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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29165238">Songs over the Moon</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/inverse_asterism/pseuds/inverse_asterism'>inverse_asterism</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>over the Moon [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Video Blogging RPF</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe, Jester Mod, M/M, coffee shop au meets urban fantasy, fantasy mystery?, genre hopping, ghost story or is it, more locked room mystery-type shenanigans, riffing on among us, supernatural mystery, who is the imposter</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-02</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-03-29</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 11:08:38</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>55,173</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29165238</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/inverse_asterism/pseuds/inverse_asterism</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>A drop of the moon brought him closer to the sky...</i>
</p><p> </p><p>A chance encounter brought Sykkuno, a normal human barista, and Corpse, the spirit of the moon, together. Now he must navigate a world full of supernatural spirits while also trying to keep the danger that comes with it from his friends...<br/>Sequel to Shadows over the Moon</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Corpse Husband/Sykkuno (Video Blogging RPF)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>over the Moon [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2140941</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>231</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>530</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Hello, and welcome to Season 2 :D<br/>Now that January's over private projects and work will mean the pace at which this gets updated will be much slower than the last one, but I hope you continue to enjoy it.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>A drop of the moon brought him closer to the sky.</p>
<p>Struck with a midnight case of cabin fever, a lone stargazer opened both the curtains and the window wide to gaze up at the narrow strip of sky the city afforded him. He laid back on the bed and listened to the night sounds of the city mingle with the lo-fi music playing on his computer.</p>
<p>He’d lucked out on the timing; the moon was currently at just the right position to be visible from where he was. He’d always liked looking at it, but now the sight of it had a whole other layer of comforting. Feeling safe and content with it watching over him, eventually he drifted off to sleep...</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Sykkuno’s phone buzzed, the vibration making it do a little dance over the rug next to him. He paused his game and set down the controller. When he saw the message from Rae started out with <i>u better be resting &gt;:(</i> it brought a smile to his face. There had been some variation of this sentiment every day for the past week. Finally tomorrow he would be ‘allowed’ to leave his apartment, but somehow he suspected the messages would still continue for a while.</p>
<p>As he thought about how to reply, Sykkuno’s mind wandered to the beginning of his week-long exile, or what he could recall of it anyway. After returning Dream’s stolen eyes at the abandoned laboratories, he’d tried to see if he could return Corpse’s eye to him in the same way without dying. Turned out he couldn’t, and merely attempting to do so had effectively put him in a coma. He had absolutely no memory of leaving the laboratories, of Corpse bringing him home, or of any of the three days Corpse, Rae, and Toast spent looking after him. Nothing.</p>
<p>After he’d woken up and Rae and Toast had come back from getting food, he’d been forced to sit still and let his friends bully him into taking it easy. First they cleared the dining room table so it could be used as an actual table not as a junk depository for once. Then, as they ate, he discovered that over the course of his fever they had convinced Sean to give him time off from the coffee shop and set up a schedule for bringing him food and taking Bimbus for walks that extended a full week past his waking up. </p>
<p>“Guys, I don’t think I need a, a whole week, do I?” he tried to protest.</p>
<p>“You’ll take it and you’ll like it,” Rae declared, and the matter was decided.</p>
<p>All things considered, he felt bad for Rae and Toast; they didn’t even have the full story and telling them would only worry them more. He resolved to be more careful in the future. There was also the fact that, much as it made him uncomfortable to receive so much attention, it also made him feel incredibly lucky and loved. <i>I’m resting, I promise</i>, he texted back, even while the little dots to signal Rae was typing were still on screen.</p>
<p>
  <i>if u don’t feel up to going to the beach tmr that’s ok u no</i>
  <br/>
  <i>good</i>
  <br/>
  <i>u better be</i>
</p>
<p>Sykkuno had to laugh. No one could make kindness sound like a threat like Rae could. More three dots.</p>
<p>
  <i>Corpse says to stop gaming and get some sleep<i></i></i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>Corpse looked over Rae’s shoulder and corrected her, “No, I said to put down the game controller and get some <i>fucking</i> sleep.”</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>“I didn’t think I need to type it word for word,” she laughed.</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>From where she was in the process of making a pre-shift coffee for herself, Poki gave her input, “I don’t know Rae, the emphasis is important, isn’t it?”</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>“Exactly,” Corpse crossed his arms and gave a sage nod.</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>“I agree,” Toast added his input.</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>“I’m sure he gets it. See?” Rae showed them Sykkuno’s reply, which consisted of three crying emoji and the promise that he would do as Corpse said. Would he really, though? Corpse made a mental note to stop by later and make sure.</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>Sean entered then with a loud jangle of the bell.</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>“Hey guys, how’s my Sykkunie?” Sean asked.</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>“Gaming, so he must be feeling better,” Rae answered. “Corpse is going to go force him to get some sleep later.”</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>Corpse looked at Rae suspiciously. This wasn’t the first time he’d wondered if she could read minds.</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>“He’s in good hands, then.” Sean bafflingly went along with it. He sat himself backwards in the chair opposite them. With an apologetic grimace, he hugged around the back of the chair and put his hands together. “On that note, we have a wee problem.”</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>“What is it?”</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>“Well, Poki said she can take tomorrow’s late shift, and I can take the early shift, but the other part-timer who was going to work with her in the evening had a family thing and can’t make it, and the other girl couldn’t get time off her other job since it’s last minute. I would normally just work a double shift, but I actually can’t be here all day because of a small business owner’s conference I already paid to go to… We have no one to cover the late shift, and Poki can’t work it on her own, not on a Friday.”</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>Rae’s shoulders sagged. “Sean… seriously?” She looked to Toast and repeated, “Seriously?”</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>Toast crossed his arms. “I’d offer to stay behind but we were going to take my car.”</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>“This really sucks,” Sean flopped over the chair back. “I don’t know what to tell you guys.”</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>Rae slumped in her own chair and sighed dramatically. “Man…!” Suddenly she sat bolt upright again. “Wait, I know. Corpse can cover for us.”</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>“Uh… what?” Corpse leaned slightly away from her. How did he get involved in this?</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>“Isn’t Corpse going with you?” Sean asked.</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>“No, he said he didn’t wanna.”</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>Corpse, dressed head to toe in black, in Doc Martin boots and a light long-sleeved jacket zipped all the way up to the heavy chain around his neck, face covered with a surgical mask and eyepatch, dryly explained, “Beach isn’t really my scene.”</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>“Imagine the tan lines,” Sean acknowledged. He made a square with his thumbs and forefingers that framed one eye. “You’d have a different kind of eyepatch.”</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>“So you’ll do it,” Rae pounced on this show of support.</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>“I didn’t say--”</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>“He already knows how to use the register,” Poki pulled over a chair to join the discussion.</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>“We could give him a crash course on the machine, just in case,” Toast mulled over the idea.</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>“He was a fast learner,” Rae added.</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>“Wait, guys… I-I don’t know about this…” Corpse nervously looked around. He didn’t like where this was going.</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>“Come on, Corpse, it’s just one shift. Do it for Sykkuno,” Rae cajoled him.</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>He looked at her, then around at the others, and relented with a sigh. “Just one shift.”</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>“What do you say, boss?” Toast asked Sean.</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>Sean made a big show of squinting at Corpse, then relaxed his shoulders and reached out a hand. “Welcome on board, Corpsey.”</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>Corpsey?</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>Corpse slowly unfolded his arms and shook Sean’s hand. He cautiously repeated himself, “Just one shift.”</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>“Yeah, yeah, sure.”</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>Sean was a good liar when he wanted to be. This was not one of those times. Corpse’s fate was sealed.</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>“So, you’re going to join me now for that crash course with the machine, right?” Toast gave him a cheeky grin. Come to think of it, Toast was a mind-reader too sometimes.</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>Sykkuno’s phone blipped again with a message from Rae. “What…?” he said aloud to the room, “Corpse is…” Her message was followed with a photo of Corpse wearing Sykkuno’s work apron and he broke off in a giggle. He knew just the reply to send…</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>Rae looked at her phone and burst into laughter. “Sykkuno says you look good, Corpse.”</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>Corpse glanced up at her over the espresso machine and shook his head. Of course he did.</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>Toast walked Corpse through making a latte for Rae, a soy chai for Poki, an espresso for Sean, and an americano for himself. That covered the basics, anything more complicated he could leave to Poki.</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>“You’ll probably just be taking orders on the register anyway,” Toast said with a shrug.</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>“Then why bother teaching me at all?”</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>“Covering my bases. Also watching you fumble through it was fun.”</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>“Right, right…” Corpse said flatly, but in good nature. He felt like he’d gotten a good read on Toast’s dry humour by now. It actually worked well with his own in a way.</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>Around when Corpse’s lesson was over, Sean left and the part-timer working with Poki for the evening shift came in. After one more run-through of the schedule for the next day, Corpse, Toast, and Rae left as well.</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>Corpse followed along behind Rae and Toast, content to let them debate dinner options. He had his hands in his pockets and an eye on the lengthening shadows as the sun went down. The dark seemed restless tonight. Eventually they settled on a little bistro with an outdoor terrace. Rae and Toast discussed plans for tomorrow while Corpse listened and Sykkuno, who was decidedly <i>not</i> sleeping, gave input via text from time to time.</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>“Kinda feels weird that you’re not coming with us, Corpse,” Rae commented at one point.</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>Corpse shrugged. “It’s fine.”</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>“What’s wrong with your eye, anyway?” Toast frowned at him. “If you don’t mind my asking?”</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>It was a valid question, the problem was how to answer. “Uh… I just… it was a stupid accident. You don’t want to know.”</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>Rae winced sympathetically. “That sucks.”</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>“Yeah, well…” he shrugged again. “I manage.”</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>Toast’s phone buzzed. “Peter says he can have breakfast sandwiches ready for us first thing.”</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>“Oh, awesome. Tell him I want mine extra spicy.”</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>“I’ll tell him to make it super extra spicy,” Toast tapped away with an evil grin.</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>“If we’re going to beat traffic, we’ll have to leave pretty early, but will Sykkuno even be awake?” Toast was asking.</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>“Will you even be awake?” Rae gave him a skeptical look.</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>“Will you?”</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>“None of us are morning people.”</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>“We could leave later instead?”</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>“No, the beach, it calls to me!”</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>Corpse chuckled.</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>“Don’t you judge us, Mr. I’m-Nocturnal!” Rae pointed at him accusingly. “When was the last time <i>you</i> got a good night’s sleep?”</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>“I sleep during the day usually.”</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>“A good <i>day’s</i> sleep then!”</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>“It’s been awhile,” he admitted, amused.</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>Corpse sat back and nursed his drink. The sun was behind the cityline by now and there were definitely shadow creatures lurking around, ready to make mischief. Were they just restless or looking to make trouble with him? And how would he deal with them without Rae or Toast noticing anything when they both noticed <i>everything</i>? Corpse had the seat with his back to the street alongside the terrace, and he could hear them whispering behind him, trying to get his attention. Why was the moon spirit here, what was he doing with these humans, were they special, should they find out…?</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>Corpse got to his feet. “Be right back.”</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>He left Rae and Toast to their beach schedule and entered the bistro’s main room, aiming for the bathroom sign before veering left and slipping out into the evening air. As predicted, the shadows had followed him, gathering in the growing twilight, testing their limits. But they were none of them particularly strong ones. If he hadn’t been with Rae and Toast, he might even have just ignored them.</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>Making sure no one was around, Corpse withdrew his scythe and in one sweeping arc took out the majority of the shadows pestering him. They dissolved into smoke on the breeze and he twisted the staff in his hands, shifting the blade over for a return arc. Most of the shadows retreated in this time, and the few that stupidly remained didn’t stand a chance.</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>Corpse went back inside. He stopped once at the bathroom on the way in to make sure his mask and everything was in place, then returned to where his friends were sitting, none the wiser. He took his seat and leaned his forearms on the table to peek at the display of Toast’s phone.</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>“Oh hey, Sykkuno and I went stargazing near there once.”</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>“Ooh, I bet it was really pretty,” Rae said appreciatively.</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>“Yeah, yeah it was.”</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>“We should take bets on how long it’ll be before Sykkuno stays up all night stargazing again and comes into work looking like death warmed over.” Toast joked.</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>Rae scoffed. “Like, the day after tomorrow.”</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>“Not if I can help it,” Corpse said.</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>“You enable him!”</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>“What?”</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>“Don’t you try to act innocent with me!”</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>“Well, at least he’s not going out on his own anymore,” Toast munched on his fries and tried to play peacemaker.</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>“That’s true,” Rae agreed. “Imagine if he’d been alone last week…”</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>The question hung heavy in the air.</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>“Anyway,” Toast wisely set the conversation back on track, “we should hurry and eat so we can grab drinks and stuff for tomorrow and then make sure we don’t stay out too late.”</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>“Good point,” Rae went back to eating.</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>Shadows were still hanging around so Corpse thought this was a good idea as well.</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>The trio paid for their meal and Corpse hung back, letting Rae and Toast lead the way on a quick beach trip supply run. The shadows remained curious, snaking along in the sidelines and whispering among themselves. Corpse began to wish his weapon of choice wasn’t so flashy.</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>They turned down a darkened side street and Corpse paused. “Uh?”</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>“This is a shortcut,” Toast told him and kept walking.</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>Of course it was. Corpse followed along. He surreptitiously kept as much distance as he could without it seeming odd and sneakily cut down the shadows that nipped at Toast’s heels and pulled at Rae’s hair. It was honestly more annoying than anything.</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>At one point he only just barely managed to disappear his scythe before Rae turned back to ask him a question.</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>“Corpse…” she furrowed her brow and changed her mind on whatever it had been to instead ask, “What are you doing?”</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>“I uh…” he pointed vaguely off to the side, “thought I saw a cat.”</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>“Well, try to keep up crazy cat lady,” Toast teased him.</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>“Crazy cat boy,” Rae giggled.</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>“Yeah, yeah, laugh it up.” Corpse stuffed his hands in his jacket pockets and caught up to them.</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>Finally Rae and Toast finished their errands. All that was left was to put gas in Toast’s car, and he could do that on the way to dropping Rae off at home. Corpse saw them to the car, promised not to burn down the coffee shop in their absence, and wished them a safe drive home. Once the car had pulled out of the parking lot and they were on their way, he exhaled in a huff and let some of the tension, finally, out of his shoulders.</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>It wasn’t even a new moon tonight.</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>Sykkuno met Corpse at the door, dressed in a short sleeved t-shirt and track pants, no socks, and hair sticking out in all directions. He was antsy, bouncing his body weight from one foot to the other. For an introvert, cabin fever sure had hit him hard.</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>“Did you eat?” Corpse asked.</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>“Mm-hm.”</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>“Did you sleep when I told you to?”</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>“I… tried? Been sleeping odd hours, staying home all week. It’ll be nice to get out tomorrow.” He rubbed at his eyes, which belied the fact that he was still tired.</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>“Okay, Sykkuno, I think you need to try harder. Come on.” Corpse put an arm around his shoulders and led him further inside. “We can watch something for a bit but then you need to sleep.”</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>Sykkuno settled in next to Corpse on the cushions, with a reluctant-sounding “all right, all right” that was all for show. “What about you, Corpse? Don’t you need to rest before working at the shop tomorrow?”</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>Corpse took a moment to answer. He thought about how… less safe Sykkuno would be once his week sequestered from the world was ended. Would it be weird to ask, though? After all that had happened, Corpse wanted to prolong this respite as long as possible. “If… you don’t mind…” he trailed off. No, it would be asking too much, wouldn’t it?</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>Sykkuno turned his head to look up at Corpse questioningly. He decided to risk it anyway.</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>“I’d... kinda… like to s-stay here tonight… if, if that’s okay…?”</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>“Oh…” Sykkuno said slowly. “Sure. That’s no problem at all, Corpse. You’re always welcome.”</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>Corpse watched him turn back to the television suspiciously. That had been too easy. Which could only mean one thing. He waited for the pin to drop.</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>Sure enough, as he watched, Sykkuno’s brow twitched, his eyes flicked to the side, and his cheeks began to turn pink. There it was. Now he got it. Corpse chuckled.</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>“U-Um…”</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>Corpse pressed his lips to his temple. “You’re cute.” He answered the question dawning far-too-slowly on Sykkuno, “Just to sleep.” He couldn’t resist teasing him, however, by adding, “Unless you want to…?”</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>When Sykkuno again subverted his expectations and didn’t immediately get flustered and start stammering out excuses, Corpse looked closer at him. “Sy...kkuno?”</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>Sykkuno shrank against him and puffed his cheeks.</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>Oh. Oh, that was… that was new…</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>Corpse sat back and swallowed hard. “Just… Just to sleep.” Probably. Maybe. Probably maybe.</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>Sykkuno wondered if Corpse could sense how hard his heart was beating. He wondered if Corpse could <i>hear</i> how hard his heart was beating. He certainly could. It was so loud in his ears he had lost all track of what was happening in the show they were watching.</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>Just to sleep? Unless he wanted to… to... </i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>Sykkuno pressed his lips together and fought the urge to squirm. He wasn’t completely clueless. He was an adult. He had the internet. The question wasn’t what Corpse had meant, it was what Sykkuno’s answer would have been if he’d finished asking.</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>Despite the fact that it had come at the tail end of a painful confession and a difficult conversation, the kiss had been nice.</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>Sykkuno did… want… that... again…</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>But if Corpse wanted to stay the night ‘just to sleep’, which was fine, by the way, totally fine… But if he felt comfortable enough to ask, Sykkuno wondered... would it be too forward to… to…</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>to…</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>Sykkuno pressed his lips together and puffed his cheeks as he mulled over this dilemma. Just the thought of saying anything made him frankly want to die of embarrassment. And making the first move? No, no, no, he… he couldn’t do that…</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>But he wanted to.</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>The people on the television screen began kissing. Of course. Perfect timing. People on television and in movies always knew the right time for it, the right things to do and say. They made it look so easy.</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>Corpse always made it seem easy too. Always hugging him right when Sykkuno needed it most. All his little touches, the arm around his shoulder like right now... The kiss on his temple a moment ago had been nice, too. A lot of guys probably wouldn’t appreciate being called ‘cute’, especially at his age, but somehow Sykkuno didn’t mind it when Corpse called him that. It was like a, what was the word for it, a pet name? Yeah, almost like a pet name in a way. Didn’t couples usually have pet names for each other?</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>Wait.</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>Were he and Corpse a… a couple now?</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>Maybe.</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>They might be a couple now.</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>Should he think of a pet name for Corpse? Nah… Corpse was Corpse.</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>Wow, the people on the television screen were really going at it. Sykkuno tried to imagine kissing Corpse like the people on screen and immediately felt his face begin to burn. No, no, that was… that was crazy… He couldn’t possibly...</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>But what would it be like, though? His mind wandered at will, dreaming up possibilities of doing the same things as the people on screen, dreaming of Corpse’s mouth and hands and, and his tongue… Sykkuno had never been kissed with tongue before. What did that feel like? Oh god, oh jesus, what was he even thinking? He had to stop. This had to stop.</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>Unbidden, an embarrassed laugh escaped him as he mentally berated himself.</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>“What?” Corpse asked.</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>“Nothing,” Sykkuno squeaked. “Nothing!”</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>Corpse raised a quizzical eyebrow at him. “Okay…”</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>Corpse was so handsome. And so cool. Even without considering the fact that he was a fearsomely gorgeous moon spirit... What did he even see in Sykkuno?</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>The people on screen had finished making out and now there was a murder or something happening but Sykkuno’s brain wouldn’t let go of the kissing idea. He thought of the times they’d been very close to each other, like right now. He thought of Corpse’s hands; he really liked Corpse’s hands. He thought of Corpse’s breath at his temple or by his ear, of how his nose sometimes brushed his skin when Corpse was being affectionate and how much Sykkuno liked that. How much he really…</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>He squirmed a little. Corpse’s arm around his shoulder slipped down to where his thumb brushed lazy circles near his elbow for a moment before sliding back up to rest against his back. Corpse breathed deeply and murmured into Sykkuno’s hair, “You really need to sleep.”</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>“You do that a lot.” Sykkuno pursed his lips.</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>“Do what?”</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>“Like…” he wasn’t sure how to describe it for a moment, “like, say things into my hair or against my skin like… like just now…”</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>Corpse’s mouth spread into a lazy smile as he brushed his fingertips through Sykkuno’s hair. That felt nice too. “I guess I do…”</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>“I like it.”</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>“Yeah?”</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>“Yeah. It feels nice, like...” He shifted around and got up on his knees, turning so he was facing Corpse. He put his hands on Corpse’s shoulders and leaned in, pressing his face into his thick black curls to mimic him, murmuring, “like this…” against his skin right above his forehead. Was he doing it right? He hoped he was doing it right.</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>Sykkuno pulled back, intending to sit back down but pausing when he saw the way Corpse was looking at him. His visible eye was wide and intense, and made Sykkuno’s heart beat in his ears all over again. Corpse put a hand on his face and drew him in, hesitantly brushing his lips against Sykkuno’s once before pressing forward with intent. It was over far too quickly and they stared at each other, trembling at the precipice like a roller coaster hovering on the apex of that first big climb before finally tipping over. Corpse pulled Sykkuno into his lap and kissed him again, long and slow, sliding his mouth across his lips in a passionate caress. Sykkuno put his arms around Corpse’s neck and clumsily tried to follow his lead.</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>It was, it was kind of a lot, and all of it felt really, really good. Corpse’s rings were cool against his neck, and his other hand was pressed against his back, holding him close. Sykkuno lost himself in the feeling, until it coiled up inside him and made him feel short of breath. When his lips parted in a gasp for air, Corpse’s mouth opened against his and oh, oh wow...</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>Corpse’s tongue slipped past his lips to curl against his own and Sykkuno felt rather than heard himself go ‘mn…’ in response. This was… so much more than he could ever have imagined. So much better. He liked this a lot.</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>They came down from the rush gradually, exchanging slow kisses and soft touches. Sykkuno felt Corpse’s hands run over his back and down his sides to pull teasingly at his t-shirt and thought that if all the false starts until now had been leading to this, they had all been worth it. When he opened his eyes, Corpse was gazing at him with so much warmth it made Sykkuno want to blush all over again.</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>Corpse ran a finger over Sykkuno’s kiss-swollen lip and smiled dreamily. “You are… so full of surprises.”</i>
  </i>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The moment they got onto the highway, Rae rolled down the window and shouted, “ROAD TRIP!!” into the wind. “WOO!”</p>
<p>“Rae, get your head back in the car.” Toast meant to scold her, but it was a difficult task when he was laughing.</p>
<p>Sykkuno leaned forward from the backseat to try and coax her back inside. “Rae! Rae, that’s dangerous! Your hair, Rae, um…!”</p>
<p>Rae sat back in a wild mass of windblown hair and giggled. “I’m so glad we’re doing this.”</p>
<p>“Me too,” Sykkuno agreed.</p>
<p>“I should braid my hair. Sykkuno, there’s a little pouch at the top of my bag, can you hand it to me? And my hairbrush.”</p>
<p>“Sure.” Sykkuno reached for her bag.</p>
<p>“Pass us the breakfast sandwiches too, I’m hungry,” Toast said.</p>
<p>“Are you okay to eat and drive?” Sykkuno asked.</p>
<p>“Yeah, unless you’re offering to feed me.”</p>
<p>“Huh?”</p>
<p>“I think Corpse might get jealous,” Rae teased.</p>
<p>“Wh-What? Rae!” Sykkuno quickly handed her the pouch and hairbrush, then the bag with the breakfast sandwiches, hoping in vain to distract her from that line of thought.</p>
<p>“Oh-ho!” Toast snickered. “Looks like Rae’s sandwich isn’t the only thing that’s spicy this morning.”</p>
<p>Rae cackled maniacally and deftly wrangled her hair into two long braids. Once that was quickly taken care of, they were just going to the beach so they didn’t need to be perfect, she unwrapped Toast’s sandwich and handed it to him, then passed Sykkuno back his, and set upon opening her own.</p>
<p>They munched in silence for a while, then Rae commented, “I’m glad we’re doing this. I’m glad we <i>can</i> do this.” She shifted around in her seat for a better angle to look back at Sykkuno. “Are you sure you’re feeling better though? That was scary.”</p>
<p>“Yeah, it was,” Toast agreed. He glanced at Sykkuno in the rearview mirror.</p>
<p>Sykkuno dropped his gaze to his sandwich and hunched his shoulders. “I don’t know what to tell you guys.” It was a supernatural coma brought on by trying to return the moon spirit’s eye, who would even believe that? “But, but I am better now. I promise.”</p>
<p>“I hope so.” Rae punctuated this with an emphatic bite of her sandwich.</p>
<p>“The fresh air today should do him good,” Toast added. “Even if it was so he could recuperate, staying inside gaming all week isn’t healthy either.”</p>
<p>“Yeah,” Sykkuno readily agreed. “It feels nice to get outside for a change.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The sun was high and bright in the sky when they arrived at the beach. Toast parked the car and they grabbed their stuff. Rae split off from the other two at the changing rooms with the promise to meet them at the beachside entrance. Toast and Sykkuno teased each other about being all pale skin and soft lines in contrast to some of the surfers and other people who clearly spent far more time out of doors than they did. Once they were appropriately changed and sunscreen’d, they left their stuff in lockers and left to wait for Rae. As they looked out over the water and beachgoers milling about, someone brushed past Sykkuno and he moved politely to the side.</p>
<p>“Oh, sorry,” the woman said.</p>
<p>“It’s alright,” Sykkuno told her. “It was my fault.”</p>
<p>“Hm?” Toast looked up from where he’d been scanning for a good spot they could claim on the beach. “What was your fault?”</p>
<p>“I was standing too close to the door I guess and she bumped into me.”</p>
<p>“Who bumped into you?”</p>
<p>“That girl.”</p>
<p>“What girl?”</p>
<p>“Huh?” Sykkuno pointed to the woman standing literally two feet in front of them. “She’s right there.”</p>
<p>The woman looked between them and her mouth formed a silent, <i>oh</i> before she waved and said, “Hi.”</p>
<p>Toast looked confused for a moment, then gave a little shake of his head. “Sorry, the sun must’ve been in my eyes.”</p>
<p>“No worries.” She clasped her hands behind her back and rocked on her heels. “You guys came to just hang out at the beach today?”</p>
<p>“Yup.” “Uh-huh.”</p>
<p>She gave them a bright smile. “Okay, I hope you have a nice day.”</p>
<p>“Thanks.”</p>
<p>“See you around,” she waved and walked off.</p>
<p>“Sorry for keeping you waiting, guys!” Rae rejoined them, linking an arm with both Toast and Sykkuno. “Let’s go find a spot!”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Down on the sand, they found a decent spot that wasn’t too close to other people but still relatively close to the water and spread out their towels. The breeze off the ocean felt good on their skin and they relaxed, chatting and joking around in a way that they hadn’t really found time for in a long while.</p>
<p>Sykkuno got to his feet and looked around. “I’m gonna go get a drink, you guys want anything?” He mentally noted their requests and jogged back to the building with the change rooms, having spotted a bank of vending machines set against the exterior. He was just looking for Rae’s lemonade when he got distracted by a voice.</p>
<p>Sykkuno peeked around the corner of the building. “Oh, hi again.”</p>
<p>The woman from earlier looked up from where she was peering underneath some benches set in the shade. “Hello.”</p>
<p>“Did you lose something?”</p>
<p>“Yeah, I lost my song.”</p>
<p>“Your song?” Sykkuno furrowed his brow. “You mean like, sheet music or a CD or something?”</p>
<p>“No, I mean my song.” She straightened up and brushed sand off her knees. “Actually, maybe you can help me.”</p>
<p>“I can try…” Sykkuno glanced around. “Not sure what I can do for you, but…”</p>
<p>“Trust me.” She approached and grinned up at him. “You have just the eye I need.”</p>
<p>Just the eye? What did that mean? It took Sykkuno a moment to clue in on what she could possibly mean. “Oh, are you...?”</p>
<p>“I was so distracted that I didn’t even notice at first that you had a bit of the moon in you,” she said. “Oh, sorry, I should introduce myself. I’m Lily.”</p>
<p>“Nice to meet you, I’m Sykkuno. So you’re a star spirit?”</p>
<p>“Ocean spirit, actually!”</p>
<p>“Oh.” That was new. How many different kinds of spirits were there? “Um, I’d like to help you, but… what does your song look like? Would my friends be able to help too? They uh, they don’t know anything about um, spirits or anything, though.”</p>
<p>“Hmm…” Lily pondered on this. “They might be able to help. We’d have to think of a good story to tell them. Regular people won’t be able to see it unless I or someone with magical ability make it visible, but they can feel its presence.”</p>
<p>Sykkuno remembered how Toast hadn’t been able to see Lily at first and thought this made sense in a way. “Okay, um, I don’t think they’d mind helping you. What should we tell them?”</p>
<p>“Hmm…” she said again, then happened on an idea and brightly suggested, “Tell them I lost a flower-shaped hair clip.”</p>
<p>“A flower-shaped hair clip?” Sykkuno repeated slowly. Her ‘song’ took the form of a hair clip? Not that he knew what he’d been expecting in the first place. “Okay, let’s go.”</p>
<p>Sykkuno finished buying drinks and led the way back to where Toast and Rae were waiting. He introduced Lily and explained her predicament; she’d lost a ‘hair clip’ and needed help searching for it.</p>
<p>By now it was mid-afternoon and the beach was full of families and vacationers and other beachgoers. With Sykkuno, Rae, and Toast’s little cluster of beach towels at the focal point, they fanned out and began searching, asking passers-by if they’d seen a flower-shaped hair clip and periodically coming back to check in.</p>
<p>“This is a pretty big beach,” Toast said at one point. “You don’t have any idea where you might have lost it?”</p>
<p>Lily shook her head apologetically. “I’ve been all over today. Sorry.”</p>
<p>“I’m gonna go look over by those rocks that way,” Rae pointed at an area further down the beach where there were some craggy rock formations and fewer people.</p>
<p>“I’ll go with you,” Sykkuno offered. He and Rae set off in that direction.</p>
<p>“I’m going to check closer to the water before the tide starts coming in.” Toast called after them and started walking to the water’s edge with Lily close behind.</p>
<p>She caught up to him and peered up at his face. “You didn’t seem all that surprised when your friend said he’d offered to help.”</p>
<p>“Sykkuno’s a big softy, so no, I wasn’t very surprised.” Toast poked around at the sand with his toe.</p>
<p>“I imagine that gets him into trouble sometimes.”</p>
<p>“Lately it feels that way,” Toast admitted. “Sometimes… I don’t know what he and… this other friend of ours is up to but yeah.” He dug up something but ended up pulling a shell out of the sand, not a hair clip. “He’s a grown man though, he can take care of himself.”</p>
<p>“Hm…” Lily took the shell from him and brushed sand off it. She turned it over in her hands, letting the pearlescent white colour catch the sunlight, then handed it back. “Well, this might seem silly to say now since we only just met, but if you think he’s in any kind of trouble in the  future, come back and talk to me. If you keep this, I promise you’ll always be able to find me here.”</p>
<p>Toast looked skeptical, but pocketed the seashell and shrugged. “Sure. Thanks, Lily.”</p>
<p>“Anytime, Toast.” She led the way on continuing their search. “By the way, how did you end up with that name…?”</p>
<p>“It’s kind of a long story…”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Rae put her hands on her hips and surveyed the rock formations. “Do you think it might be here?”</p>
<p>“It might be? I don’t know,” Sykkuno admitted. “Lily did say she’d been all over the beach today.”</p>
<p>Rae clambered up on top of one of the rocks and put a hand to her forehead to shield her eyes. “Woo, you can see really far from here.”</p>
<p>“Really?” Sykkuno followed her up. “Oh yeah, cool. You can even see some ships out there.”</p>
<p>“Imagine if we were rich and we could just like, get a yacht or something.” She recklessly jumped down and resumed searching.</p>
<p>“That would be pretty cool.” Sykkuno carefully climbed down after her. “Do you need a license to drive a, a yacht? Is there like, a boat license or something?” Was drive even the right word?</p>
<p>“I don’t know…” Rae admitted. She poked around the rocks and absently hummed to herself.</p>
<p>It wasn’t uncommon for Rae to burst into song at random, so Sykkuno thought nothing of it until it suddenly occurred to him that they were technically looking for Lily’s lost <i>song</i> not an actual hair clip. Could she have meant… a literal song…?</p>
<p>“What’re you singing, Rae?” he asked as casually as he could.</p>
<p>Rae paused what she was doing and furrowed her brow. “I donno.”</p>
<p>“Oh, well, it… it sounds nice. Keep singing it.”</p>
<p>She squinted at him suspiciously. “Okay, you weirdo.”</p>
<p>Now accompanied by Rae tunelessly humming and ‘do-do-do~♪’ing they continued the search, looking around the different rocks and into the scattered pools and crevices occupied by little crabs and other sea creatures. The further they went, the more Rae seemed to build onto an actual melody, until at one point she turned around to check Sykkuno’s position and he saw it…</p>
<p>A pearlescent white lily blooming into her hair above her ear.</p>
<p>Sykkuno approached her quickly and carefully before she noticed. “Hey, Rae, look over there.”</p>
<p>When she turned her head towards the water, he stuck out his hand and swiftly plucked the flower from her hair.</p>
<p>“What?” Rae asked.</p>
<p>“Oh, I thought I saw a whale. I must’ve been seeing things.” He dropped the flower to the sand and made a show of going, “Oh look!” as he picked it back up. “Do you think this is what Lily meant?”</p>
<p>“Ohhh, I bet that’s it! Let’s take it back to her.”</p>
<p>“Yeah, let’s go.” Sykkuno let Rae go ahead of him and they started back towards the main area of the beach together. “I’m kinda hungry too. We should get ice cream.”</p>
<p>“That sounds great!”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Lily met them with a big smile and held out her hands to Sykkuno. “That’s it! Thank you so much!”</p>
<p>“Rae’s singing led us to it,” Sykkuno happily informed her.</p>
<p>Rae chortled. “Yeah, sure.”</p>
<p>Lily affixed the flower to her hair above her left ear. Her eyes sparkled as she and Sykkuno shared a private exchange of grins. It had definitely been Rae’s singing that helped find her missing song, but that could be their secret.</p>
<p>“We’re gonna get ice cream, do you want to join us, Lily?” Rae asked.</p>
<p>“Yeah, I know a good place up that way.”</p>
<p>“Lead the way,” Toast indicated with a sweep of his hands.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Together they all got ice cream and Lily joined them for much of the afternoon. They played in the water and built terrible sandcastles and generally goofed around until the sun started to go down. At some point the conversation had turned to music, so Lily sang them a song while the sky turned colours and the tide approached them, ending the afternoon on a warm and comfortable note for everyone.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Rae pointed a finger at Sykkuno on the way to the parking area after they’d changed and collected their things from the lockers. “Don’t even think about asking to wait until the stars come out.”</p>
<p>“I wasn’t!” he put up his hands defensively. Granted, the thought had crossed his mind. But she didn’t know that. (Or maybe she did.)</p>
<p>“We have to get back and make sure Corpse survived his shift.” Toast added.</p>
<p>“True, true,” Rae laughed.</p>
<p>“Thanks again for everything today, guys,” Lily said as they came up to Toast’s car.</p>
<p>“No problem,” Sykkuno told her, “Just glad we could help, Lily.”</p>
<p>She leaned closer and whispered, “Say hi to Corpse for me.”</p>
<p>“You know him?”</p>
<p>“Yeah, the moon and the ocean are like this.” She held up crossed fingers to illustrate.</p>
<p>“Oh, okay. I’ll tell him you said hi.”</p>
<p>“And Sykkuno?”</p>
<p>“Yeah?”</p>
<p>She caught his eye with a warm smile and a wink. “Having some of the moon in you isn’t going to be easy, but you’re lucky to have such good friends to support you.”</p>
<p>Sykkuno looked over at Toast and Rae fondly and matched her smile. “I know.” Then a thought occurred to him. “Hey, Lily, you uh… don’t know of any way I can give this um, bit of the moon back to Corpse, do you?”</p>
<p>She put a hand on his cheek and shook her head. “Not without losing your life.”</p>
<p>“Yeah, I, I don’t really wanna do that.”</p>
<p>“Didn’t think so.”</p>
<p>“Ready to go, Sykkuno?” Toast called from the driver’s side door.</p>
<p>“Yup!”</p>
<p>“Bye, guys,” Lily waved them off.</p>
<p>“Bye Lily!”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The drive back was uneventful. Sykkuno made himself comfortable laying across the back seat propped up by their beach bags and watched the stars come out overhead. He wondered when he could go stargazing next. Part of the past week had been spent online looking for new spots to check out. Even as he mentally organized where he wanted to check out first, he dozed off and slept the rest of the way back into the city.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Toast parked the car close to the coffee shop and sent Poki a text. After a short wait, he spotted Corpse approaching and got out to meet him.</p>
<p>Corpse glanced inside to see Rae and Sykkuno fast asleep. “There’s a familiar sight.”</p>
<p>“Couple of big kids,” Toast shook his head. He leaned against the car and asked, “How was it?”</p>
<p>“Fine, fine… I didn’t break anything.”</p>
<p>“You were worried about that?”</p>
<p>“Yeah.”</p>
<p>Toast gave him a look that clearly conveyed how silly he thought this was.</p>
<p>“How was… how was your day?” Corpse asked.</p>
<p>“It was good.” Toast stretched his arms above his head. “Did Poki need help closing up?”</p>
<p>“I can handle it. You and Rae should head home.” Corpse opened the back seat door and reached in to shake Sykkuno gently awake.</p>
<p>“Are you sure?” Toast asked.</p>
<p>“Yeah, yeah, it’s no problem.”</p>
<p>Sykkuno stumbled out of the car. “Hey Corpse,” he mumbled on the tail end of a yawn.</p>
<p>“All right, well, stop by the shop tomorrow. Sean said he’d be in to pay you and I’ll treat you to something.”</p>
<p>“You don’t have to, but thanks.”</p>
<p>Corpse and Sykkuno saw Toast off, then headed back to the coffee shop.</p>
<p>“Good day?” Corpse asked.</p>
<p>“I met an ocean spirit named Lily, she says hi.”</p>
<p>“Nice. Did she also sing for you?”</p>
<p>“Uh-huh, we helped her find her song.”</p>
<p>“Hearing an ocean spirit’s song is good luck, you know.”</p>
<p>“Really?” Sykkuno thought on this. “Then I wish you and Poki, and, and Sean could have also been there to hear it too.”</p>
<p>Corpse quietly chuckled at this. “Someday, maybe.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Sykkuno took down the leash from where it hung by the door and had to try five times to latch it onto Bimbus’ collar, since he was a mini blur of perpetual white fluffy motion swirling around his ankles at the time. “You really want to go outside, huh? Let’s go to the dog run and see if any friends are there!” Leash finally latched onto his collar, he picked Bimbus up and locked the door behind them.</p>
<p>It was early enough in the morning that the sun was still slanting through the buildings in thick golden beams. There was a dog run attached to a park a few blocks away, and Sykkuno and Bimbus headed in that direction at a leisurely pace. It was unusually early in the morning for Sykkuno to be awake (not counting the times he stayed up all night) but Bimbus wasn’t complaining. The little dog wandered here and there at the end of his leash to sniff and inspect whatever caught his attention, periodically looping back around to trot at Sykkuno’s side.</p>
<p>They reached the park and crossed it to the dog run, where Sykkuno let Bimbus off his leash to run and greet the other dogs out for a morning runaround. One of the other owners waved and he waved back, leaning against the fence and enjoying the breeze on his skin.</p>
<p>“That your dog?” someone asked. “He’s cute.”</p>
<p>“Thanks.”</p>
<p>Wait.</p>
<p>Sykkuno knew that voice. He looked to the side and was met with bright hazel eyes sparkling mischievously in the morning sunlight. “Wh-”</p>
<p>“Hey, Sykkuno, what’s up?”</p>
<p>“Dream!”</p>
<p>Dream bumped a fist against Sykkuno’s shoulder in an affectionate tap. “Hey, man. All better?”</p>
<p>Sykkuno nodded. “You?”</p>
<p>Dream beamed at him. “Yup! Still got the scar, but I think it makes me look like a badass, don't you?”</p>
<p>“Very cool. Like a… a video game character.”</p>
<p>“Hell yeah!”</p>
<p>Bimbus came running back and Dream flopped over the fence to reach down and scratch behind his ears. “Hey buddy. What’s his name?”</p>
<p>“It’s Bimbus.” Sykkuno picked Bimbus up for better access to ear scritches. “Um, so, what brings you here, Dream?”</p>
<p>“Didn’t Corpse tell you? I said I’d come back to thank you in person.” Dream floofed Bimbus’ fur and giggled when Bimbus licked his fingers. “And,” he dragged the word out in what could only be described as casually apologetic, “I need to ask a favour.”</p>
<p>“Oh?”</p>
<p>“Ever been to the tunnel on the other side of this park?”</p>
<p>“Tunnel?” Sykkuno looked towards the general area behind Dream. “No, no, I don’t think so… Bimb and I don’t usually go that far.”</p>
<p>“Oh, okay, well there is one. Right now it’s blocked off at one end and kids use it as like a secret fort or something, teenagers getting high, whatever, I dunno. I think it used to connect this park to a water park on the other side of the hill or something back in the day or something.” He shrugged and said again with a shrug, “or something.”</p>
<p>“Okay…?”</p>
<p>“So this sneaky shadow has taken up residence in there and I’ve been tasked with getting rid of it. Trouble is, while it’s not strong, it is realllly sneaky. Like, the master of sneaking around. What I’m saying is, I need another pair of eyes.” He poked Sykkuno in the cheek and gave him a cheesy grin, “Or, well, another <i>eye</i>, I guess.”</p>
<p>“Oh, u-um… I don’t… know what… what I can do…”</p>
<p>Dream straightened up and put out his hands. “Nonononono, I know what you’re thinking. I promise it’s not dangerous. I would, I would <i>never</i> put you in danger again. I owe you my life, remember?”</p>
<p>“I don’t know about that…” Sykkuno protested.</p>
<p>“Nonononono, it’s true. At the very least I owe you my eyes, so… so, so, so here’s the thing. At least hear me out?”</p>
<p>Sykkuno searched Dream’s face for a moment, then let Bimbus back down and turned to lean against the fence and relent, “Okay, I’ll listen. What do you need me to do?”</p>
<p>“Like I said, I just need another pair of eyes. I need to corner the slippery little guy, then-” he made a slashing motion to illustrate.</p>
<p>“I guess…” Sykkuno considered this. “There’s just one problem, I can’t actually see in the dark that well.” So far he had been able to manifest the power of the moonlight within him to that extent once that he could recall, maybe other times <i>kind of</i> but he wasn’t sure, and he’d had no control over it.</p>
<p>Dream unhooked his smiley face mask from where it was hanging at his hip and set it on Sykkuno’s head. “Lucky for us, I don’t strictly need this to see anymore.”</p>
<p>Sykkuno put a hand up to steady the mask where it rested at an angle atop his hair. “How do these work, anyway?”</p>
<p>Dream blew out a breath and pondered how to explain. “You know how the sun can be real bright sometimes? Like, you can see just fine, but it’s a bit much? So you wear sunglasses and you can see just as well but more clearly?”</p>
<p>“Uh-huh?”</p>
<p>“The masks are like that but in reverse. Without them we can see the shadow creatures in the shadows and in the dark just fine, but <i>with</i> them everything is just more... clear.” Dream shrugged. “It also allowed me to see when I was eye-less there for awhile, and it definitely helps Corpse when he needs it now.”</p>
<p>“That’s interesting…” Sykkuno took the mask off his head and looked it over. To him it looked just like a regular plain white smiley face mask.</p>
<p>“So you’ll help me?”</p>
<p>“Why me? Wouldn’t you rather have Corpse or someone… another, um… star spirit to help you out?” Sykkuno asked.</p>
<p>“Do you see Corpse around right now?”</p>
<p>“No, No, I think he’s um… at home right now.”</p>
<p>“So he won’t be back until tonight.” Dream spread his hands and shrugged. “It’ll be easier to take care of this during the day.”</p>
<p>Sykkuno sighed and looked down at Bimbus. Bimbus cocked his head to the side and gave a little tail wag. He wasn't going to say no to more time outside today.</p>
<p>“All right, I guess I’ll help you. But--”</p>
<p>“Awesome. Let’s go.”</p>
<p>“Wh- Right now?” Sykkuno fiddled with the leash timidly.</p>
<p>“No time like the present, right?” Dream countered his doubts logically, “Might as well speedrun it and get it over with.”</p>
<p>“I… I guess…” Sykkuno put the leash back on Bimbus’ collar and exited the dog run.</p>
<p>Sykkuno caught up with Dream and together they followed one of the jogging paths around to the opposite side of the park. Sykkuno had never been to this part of the park before. There was a playground area that jutted up against a hill that appeared man-made, like it was intended to essentially be a wall of dirt. It was here, tucked away behind a jungle gym, where the entrance to the tunnel appeared in the hill like a splotch of ink dropped on green felt.</p>
<p>Sykkuno tied Bimbus’ leash to the jungle gym and told him to stay before joining Dream at the tunnel entrance. He peered inside. “A-Are you… sure about this?”</p>
<p>“Yeah, it’ll be fine.”</p>
<p>Dream’s casual indifference to danger hadn’t just been in relation to his imposter, it was a definite personality trait. Sykkuno pursed his lips and considered the smiley face mask in his hand.</p>
<p>“Put it on, it’ll be okay,” Dream encouraged him. “You know, you should get a mask of your own someday.”</p>
<p>“Uh, but I…”</p>
<p>“At least a weapon so you can defend yourself.”</p>
<p>Sykkuno laughed nervously. “I-I, I don’t know about that… I…” He put the mask on hurriedly. “There’s… I mean, you, you never know… I might, I might not have… this… bit of the moon in me for… for forever… you know…”</p>
<p>Dream gave him a long look. “You say that like I wasn’t there the last time you tried to give it back.”</p>
<p>Sykkuno was glad for the mask. He wasn’t sure what the exact emotion he was feeling was, but he did know for sure that it was showing clearly on his face. He nervously ran his thumb over the scar on his hand.</p>
<p>“Seriously, Sykkuno, I…” Dream trailed off with a shake of his head. He patted Sykkuno on the shoulder, letting his hand linger in a way that gently urged Sykkuno forward. “Uh, let’s, uh, let’s do this.”</p>
<p>They entered the tunnel and Sykkuno shivered at the immediate drop in temperature. The vision through the mask was interesting, and how Dream had explained it made a lot of sense. It was still dark, but the dark was more defined. He could see the bricks in the walls, the graffiti, the cigarette butts and other detris littering the floor. He could see sentient shadows, a shade or two darker than the ambient dark, lurking around. It was a new experience for him to see them before he heard their whispers. At least he thought so. It felt like it anyway.</p>
<p>Dream led the way further in. Sykkuno followed behind him, feeling like he was actually learning a lot about this supernatural world he’d stumbled into. The masks helped them see better, he got that now. Dream thought he should get a weapon, so… a supernatural weapon? Were the weapons supernatural? Corpse had a scythe but Hafu and 5up had carried simple blades similar to hunting knives, he had no idea what Brooke used, and Dream carried what looked like a stereotypical and simple short-bladed broadsword like from fantasy movies and video games. He had always assumed the weapons were related to the masks, although Hafu didn’t have a mask, but then again Hafu was supposed to be something else… </p>
<p>Did Lily have a weapon? Did ocean spirits fight against shadows?</p>
<p>So many questions. He’d never have answers for them all.</p>
<p>He didn’t notice when Dream stopped and nearly bumped into him. They were at a point where the tunnel branched off slightly, forming an alcove to the left and turning slightly to the right. Sykkuno squinted and could see the end of the tunnel was boarded up ahead. The whispering here was louder, he could make out a few scraps of coherent words here and there, some of the shadows had already recognized him as having ‘a bit of the moon’ in him. There seemed to be some confusion this time around, though, because some of the voices questioned why the bit of the moon was paired with a starlight mask.</p>
<p>Then one voice stood out among the rest, “Back again, are you?” The voice was raspy, it echoed around them, bouncing off the walls and climbing up the bricks to trick their ears and confuse them. This was a stronger shadow. It vaguely reminded him of the shadows that had come after him the first night he met Corpse. Had it really only been a few months since then? It felt like a whole lifetime ago.</p>
<p>Sykkuno tried to think about how to corner the shadow creature. Dream and he only made two, while the shadow was wiley and had the support of all the other minor shadows around. It was still going to have the easier time evading them. Although… wait a minute...</p>
<p>“Hey, Dream?”</p>
<p>“Yeah?”</p>
<p>“Um, so… so I’ve noticed they can always sense who I am, well the moon part of me, but the mask seems to be confusing them.”</p>
<p>Dream turned to look at him. “Oh yeah?”</p>
<p>“Yeah, so I was thinking, if you give me your sword, they might… um, they might think I’m you and, and then they’ll focus all their attention on me.”</p>
<p>Dream shifted his weight from one foot to the other and considered this. “That’s not a bad idea… Do you mind acting as decoy though? Might be dangerous, and, I mean, like, I promised....”</p>
<p>“I’m already here, aren’t I?”</p>
<p>Dream laughed, “You got me there.” He flipped the sword around and offered the hilt out to Sykkuno.</p>
<p>It was heavier than he expected somehow, though not as heavy or difficult to balance as Corpse’s scythe was. Hm… “Is there any… trick to using it?”</p>
<p>Dream considered the sword for a moment and then shrugged. “Kinda… but you know, you could just swing it around like a baseball bat and have… basically the same effect.”</p>
<p>“Oh.” Sykkuno hefted the sword. It seemed kind of unwieldy but if Dream said so…</p>
<p>“Any other ideas?”</p>
<p>Sykkuno looked around. He spied a storm grate in the alcove to the left and pointed at it. “I’m gonna stand on that vent thing over there, and maybe the shadow you’re after will use the darker-darkness inside of it to come up and attack me. Then you can take care of it.”</p>
<p>“Sure, that seems like a good idea.” Dream backed up a few steps into where the tunnel curved off and crouched down. “I’ll keep watch from here.”</p>
<p>“Okay, here I go…” Sykkuno nervously walked to the grate and stood on it.</p>
<p>They waited.</p>
<p>And waited.</p>
<p>And… waited.</p>
<p>“Nothing’s happening,” Dream whispered.</p>
<p>“Maybe this wasn’t a very good plan after all,” Sykkuno whispered back.</p>
<p>“Dang, I thought it was a good plan.”</p>
<p>“Me too.”</p>
<p>“I think there’s another vent thing further down there,” Dream pointed towards the barricaded end of the tunnel.</p>
<p>“Okay, let’s try--” Sykkuno broke off. “Dream?”</p>
<p>“Yeah?”</p>
<p>“I can’t move.”</p>
<p>Somehow, the shadow they were after had managed to coil around Sykkuno’s ankles from below the grate. Or maybe it had friends. Actually, that seemed more accurate. In any case, the moment they suggested moving off the grate, the shadows snapped tight around him and began to crawl up his legs. Another came down from above to caress Sykkuno’s face around the edge of the mask.</p>
<p>“<i>A star spirit with a bit of the moon in him…?</i>” it questioned, and Sykkuno clamped his mouth shut. “<i>Nooo… there’s something else about you… but I’ll find out… soon enough...</i>”</p>
<p>“Sykkuno, throw me the sword!” Dream took two steps across the tunnel and held out his hand.</p>
<p>Sykkuno nodded and tossed the sword in the air towards him. Dream caught it one handed, a reckless smile on his face. He turned the sword around and swung the blade, not at all like a baseball bat, and slashed the shadow around Sykkuno’s neck, before dropping down into a crouch-spin of sorts that sliced through the shadows trapping his feet.</p>
<p>Sykkuno stumbled forward. He could see one more sentient shadow looming over Dream from behind, thanks to the mask. This one seemed more defined, vaguely more humanoid. It must be the leader. Sykkuno grabbed Dream by the wrist on his sword-arm and pulled him to his feet. Together they drove the blade home in the last shadow creature and all the whispering around them faded away.</p>
<p>Dream laughed all the way out of the tunnel back into the daylight, the sound bouncing vibrant and bright off the walls all the way out. He dropped down in the sand next to Bimbus and let him jump up and lick his face. Sykkuno pulled the smiley face mask off over his head and watched them roll around together in the sand while he waited for his heartbeat to calm down and his hands to stop shaking.</p>
<p>He stooped down to join in petting Bimbus and reached with one hand to untie the leash. He glanced at Dream and held out the mask. “You… didn’t really need my help, did you?”</p>
<p>“Sure I did. You were lots of help, Sykkuno,” Dream said. He took the mask back and stood to tie it back onto his hip. Nothing in his tone made him sound especially one way or the other. He could be telling the truth, or he could just as easily not be. Either was equally believable. Dream was an enigma. “Wanna get lunch? My treat!”</p>
<p>When he thought about it, Sykkuno didn’t mind that about Dream. “Sure.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Later that evening, Sykkuno was washing dishes and Bimbus was played out, fast asleep on his doggie bed in the corner when there was a knock at the door. Already knowing who to expect, he leaned back and called, “It’s open!”</p>
<p>Corpse let himself in and took off his shoes and facemask with a quiet, “Hey.”</p>
<p>“Hey Corpse. I’ll be done in a sec. You won’t believe what happened today.”</p>
<p>“Okay. What happened today?”</p>
<p>Corpse leaned against the counter and listened while Sykkuno continued washing dishes and told him about his day with Dream.</p>
<p>“Hmm… Not sure I like him asking you for help.” Corpse frowned after hearing it all. He shifted down the counter closer to Sykkuno and angled his position so he was low enough to make them eye to eye, long legs slung out to brace himself at an angle against the countertop.</p>
<p>“It was okay in the end.”</p>
<p>“Yeah, this time.”</p>
<p>Sykkuno set a freshly-washed mug in the drying rack. Another little thing from the day came back to him, “Dream thinks I should have a weapon.”</p>
<p>Corpse looked perplexed. “I’m your weapon.”</p>
<p>Sykkuno hated that his hands were wet, because his first instinct was to hide the smile this elicited behind one. For all the times Corpse called Sykkuno ‘cute’ he sure was cute himself sometimes. “Yeah, but… I think he means like, to defend myself when you’re not around.”</p>
<p>Corpse ran his fingers over his jaw thoughtfully.</p>
<p>Dishes all cleaned, Sykkuno let the water out of the sink and dried his hands off. He raised his eyebrows at Corpse. “I thought you liked me with a weapon.”</p>
<p>Corpse reached for him, drawing him closer by the waist with a rumbly, "Mmm… That is true, it is pretty hot.”</p>
<p>“Maybe I should try to be a little tougher. I could get a weapon and… um…” Sykkuno spied Corpse’s multiple ear piercings and brushed his fingertips over them. “Maybe… Maybe I could… um, get my ear pierced too… maybe...”</p>
<p>“Are you trying to seduce me?”</p>
<p>“Wh-What?” Sykkuno gave a flustered laugh. “Do you… think I’d, I’d look good?”</p>
<p>“You want one?” Corpse asked. He mimicked what Sykkuno had done and brushed his fingertips over Sykkuno’s very not-pierced ear.</p>
<p>Sykkuno balked a little at how he seemed to be taking the idea seriously. “Uhm… I was just… wondering?”</p>
<p>“We could give you one.”</p>
<p>Oh jesus, he was taking it seriously. “Yeah? But would it look good on me, that’s the problem.”</p>
<p>“I think it’d look great.”</p>
<p>Sykkuno laughed a little. “I think you’re biased.”</p>
<p>“I might be.” Corpse chuckled, then turned a serious and pulled him closer. “You don’t have to change yourself for me, Sykkuno.” He held Sykkuno’s gaze for a moment, then gave a nod and relented, “I guess we might consider getting you a weapon though, and I might still find the idea of you using it really fucking hot.”</p>
<p>Sykkuno laughed again, bringing one hand up to put over his mouth. Corpse hooked his fingers through his and pulled it away, adding, “But don’t think for a second that I don’t find Softkkuno just as hot, if not more.”</p>
<p>Sykkuno could feel a blush rise to his cheeks, and Corpse still had hold of his hand. There was always his other hand, but on impulse he ducked forward and kissed Corpse instead to try and hide it. Or maybe he just wanted to and that was an excuse.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Rating will go up to M from next chapter. <br/>Overall the tone of the story shouldn't change (not more than it already does with all the genre hopping anyway). I will be sure to point out the M-rated scenes in the notes at the start of any chapters it applies to so readers can skip them if they're not into it.<br/>As always, thanks for reading. :3</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Chapter 4</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Opening scene is borderline M rated for boys kissing, nothing especially connected to the overall plot<br/>Skip ahead to "***" for the main story if you're not into that.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The mornings had grown cooler as autumn set in, so he’d added a blanket under the duvet and that made getting up, especially after late nights, extremely hard. Sykkuno fumbled for his smartphone to quell the alarm and flopped back down on the pillow with a ‘mmph’ while he waited for his brain to slowly achieve something resembling consciousness. Something was different. Even with the added blanket and Bimbus curled up behind his knees, the bed seemed… warmer somehow.</p>
<p>Sykkuno opened his eyes and realized, or rather, remembered… he wasn’t only sharing the bed with Bimbus at the moment.</p>
<p>That’s right…</p>
<p>They’d gone stargazing and come back exhausted at around four a.m.</p>
<p>Loopy and strung out from lack of sleep, Sykkuno had suggested that it was easier to just sleep there, and already unsteady on his feet and hazy from tiredness after being awake for over a full day, his guest had accepted. Was it actually easier, come to think of it? How exactly did Corpse go home? He had no idea.</p>
<p>In any case, it wasn’t the first time Corpse had spent the night.</p>
<p>It <i>was</i> the first time they hadn’t bothered with pulling out Sykkuno’s extra futon mattress and blankets reserved for guests and just… shared the bed.</p>
<p>Sykkuno pressed his lips together and held his breath, afraid to ruin the moment. Corpse had refused to borrow a shirt from Sykkuno, dubious that any would fit his broader shoulders. He’d gone to sleep in just a pair of Sykkuno’s looser-fitting track pants and his eyepatch. He was sleeping on his side facing Sykkuno, and from this angle he had a tantalizing glimpse of his collarbone and the little hollow above it usually obscured by the chain necklace he wore. Corpse’s lips were parted slightly, thick black hair falling across his forehead. One hand was resting against the mattress between them, fingers curled lightly into his palm, and Sykkuno hazily realized it was the first time he’d seen it without any rings on. A completely unadorned Corpse (not counting some ear piercings) seemed like a rare treasure. He took the risk and put his own hand softly over Corpse’s, curious about how it would feel different.</p>
<p>Corpse’s hand was broad, heavy, with thick veins standing out on the back. By contrast Sykkuno’s hand was more smooth, with longer, more slender fingers that fit neatly in the little valleys between Corpse’s knuckles. Not that they’d suit him, but it was clear none of Corpse’s rings would fit him, that much was certain.</p>
<p>Corpse’s thumb twitched and with a great intake of breath he came awake, blinking blearily at Sykkuno. “Hey,” he said, voice thick and gravelly with sleep.</p>
<p>“Hey…” Sykkuno said back, barely above a whisper. “Sleep okay?”</p>
<p>Corpse ‘hmm’ed while he considered his answer and slipped his hand out from under Sykkuno’s to switch it up so he was covering Sykkuno’s hand instead. He swiped his thumb back and forth across his skin thoughtfully a few times, then used it to pull Sykkuno close against him. “It was alright,” he murmured against his cheek.</p>
<p>Sykkuno’s heart raced, then beat triple time as Corpse slung one leg over him. This was… uh… this was new… and not… unwelcome…</p>
<p>“Waking up was marginally better,” Corpse flirted blatantly.</p>
<p>“Oh, well, um… um…” Sykkuno’s mind went blank. He had no idea what to say. “I’m glad you slept… okay…?”</p>
<p>As was usual, Corpse didn’t seem to mind him being awkward. He kissed him, and when Sykkuno again tried to fumble for something to say, he threaded his fingers through Sykkuno’s hair and angled his head for a deeper kiss. There were far more interesting things they could be doing after waking up in bed together than talking.</p>
<p>Corpse’s leg was still hooked firmly behind his knees, trapping Sykkuno against him. Sykkuno ran a hand over the collarbone that had captured his attention earlier, marvelling at the newness of it, in the way Corpse’s skin was warm under his fingers, the lean lines where his shoulder flowed smoothly into the muscles of his arm, and in the way his hair curled close to the back of his neck different from over the collar of his shirts or hoodies. Corpse nipped at his bottom lip and Sykkuno reacted with a full-body surge against him that he had no control over. It startled him how much he liked that. He bit back experimentally and Corpse hummed in appreciation.</p>
<p>The air was still chilly, so Corpse made sure to keep the bedcovers in place over them as he shifted his weight forward. He pinned Sykkuno to the mattress to grind his hips down against him and swallowed the soft moan he was gifted in response. Oh, god. This hadn’t been planned at all, but Sykkuno’s hands on his bare skin felt electric. The taste of his lips was addictive. That little love bite exchange just now had been amazing. The muted morning light and the softness of the bed and the opportunity were all too welcoming; the mood felt so perfect, so right…</p>
<p>Corpse broke off to take a breath, and to commit to memory the view of Sykkuno with flushed cheeks, feverish eyes, and sleep-tousled hair gazing up from underneath him, and the way his breath hitched when Corpse rolled his hips again... He brushed his thumb over Sykkuno’s mouth, then nearly died when he, either instinctively or purposely, there was never any way to know for sure, closed his lips around it. <i>Oh my god…</i></p>
<p>Corpse kissed Sykkuno’s skin just above the collar of the t-shirt he’d slept in and shifted back on his knees. Leaving one hand decidedly at Sykkuno’s open mouth, he trailed the other down and relished in feeling Sykkuno shiver beneath him. He traced down his chest, across his abdomen to find the hem of his t-shirt. There he curled his fingers, slipping them under to splay slowly over his stomach and retrace his path back up just enough for the hem of the shirt to bunch around his wrist. Corpse leaned down and planted a kiss just below Sykkuno’s navel. Sykkuno tensed with a soft, ‘ah’. That was nice. What other noises could he expect to hear? Corpse wet his lips in anticipation of where his mind was taking him next…</p>
<p>And then two things happened:</p>
<p>Bimbus got fed up with all the shenanigans going on interrupting his sleep and leapt off the bed to scamper into the kitchen, and…</p>
<p>Sykkuno’s backup alarm went off.</p>
<p>Corpse stilled, resting his forehead on Sykkuno’s stomach.</p>
<p>Sykkuno silenced the alarm and blinked at the ceiling. He swallowed hard and attempted to sort his thoughts.</p>
<p>That was…</p>
<p>That had been…</p>
<p>“Um…”</p>
<p>The second backup alarm went off and he slapped at his phone to shut it off.</p>
<p>“Gotta go to work?” Corpse mumbled.</p>
<p>“Uh- yeah.”</p>
<p>The fact that they both sounded disappointed wasn’t lost on either of them.</p>
<p>Corpse moved off him, going back to the side of the bed he’d slept on and flopping face down into the pillow. Sykkuno sat up and absently rearranged his clothes. He took two deep breaths and looked at the time. They’d been about to… They’d almost… They’d never… But he wanted… And Corpse, um, Corpse definitely wanted to… But he really did have to leave soon. Sykkuno glanced at the mass of black curls trying to meld into the pillow and sighed.</p>
<p>“You can stay here and sleep more. Bimbus will like the company.”</p>
<p>“I’ll take him for a walk later,” Corpse’s muffled voice accepted the offer from deep within his fluffy self-imposed prison.</p>
<p>“Thanks.”</p>
<p>Sykkuno got up to wash his face and get ready for work.</p>
<p>***</p>
<p>Rae watched Sykkuno shuffle into the coffee shop suspiciously. “Did you stay up all night again?”</p>
<p>“Uh,” Sykkuno rubbed at his eyes. “M-Most of the night?”</p>
<p>“Most of the night?” she repeated.</p>
<p>“I think we went to sleep at around 4:30 or so?”</p>
<p>Rae stood straight and squinted at him. “‘We?’”</p>
<p>“Yeah, Corpse and I…” went stargazing, he was about to say, but then a synapse fired and reminded him of the other reason he was tired that was related to Corpse and the words got stuck in his throat. But Rae was looking at him with raised eyebrows, so he stammered out the rest as best he could, “we, uh, w-went um, we went, uh, star...gazing… to-...together… Um. We went stargazing together. Yup, until pretty late.”</p>
<p>“And then he crashed at your place?”</p>
<p>“Yeah, he’s… he’s done that before…”</p>
<p>“I know.” Rae gave him a look as she powered the espresso machine on and began the morning prep work.</p>
<p>Sykkuno knew that look but wasn’t actually sure why he was on the receiving end. He tied on his apron and came back with a damp cloth to begin wiping down tables. Rae hadn’t pressed the issue, which gave him an easy out, but his curiosity got the best of him in the end. “What?”</p>
<p>Rae came out from behind the espresso machine and set her elbows on the counter. She held Sykkuno’s gaze for a beat, as if weighing what she wanted to say, then went back to work. “We still haven’t really talked about those three days, have we?”</p>
<p>He didn’t have to ask which three days she meant. “No, we haven’t.”</p>
<p>“Toast and I agreed that we wouldn’t ask until you were willing to talk about it, but I have to know,” she leaned forward and held his gaze, “you guys <i>are</i> just stargazing, right? You’re really, honestly, not getting into any trouble, are you?”</p>
<p>“Rae, I… I promise we’re only going out to go stargazing.” It wasn’t a lie. Trouble usually found them, not the other way around.</p>
<p>“Okay, I believe you.” She again returned to the morning prep work. “I like Corpse, Sykkuno. I like him a lot. He’s sweet and a good friend and you two are cute together. I get the feeling he’s been on his own a lot in life, so I’m happy he found you. But at the same time, I’ve known you longer, and it pains me to see you getting hurt.”</p>
<p>Sykkuno was torn. Part of him really wanted to tell her everything, but another part of him insisted that knowing would only amplify her worries. He crossed the room and stood behind the counter next to her, eyes down, fiddling with the washcloth. “I’m, I’m sorry Rae. I don’t mean to worry you so much.”</p>
<p>She offered him a wan smile and reached up to ruffle his hair. “I know. Let’s finish setting up so we can get some caffeine in you.” She leaned closer with an evil glint in her eye. “You can answer one thing for me, though.”</p>
<p>“What’s that?”</p>
<p>“When’s the wedding?”</p>
<p>“Wh- weddi-- I- Rae! I-I-I uh… um…” Sykkuno rushed back to wiping down the tables and refused to answer. He was still blushing furiously when Toast walked in with the morning’s pastry selection.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Corpse had Bimbus with him when he stopped by near the end of Sykkuno’s shift. Sykkuno was essentially running on fumes, powered more by coffee and Monster than anything else at this point. He was glad he didn’t have to worry about going for a walk because he definitely didn’t have the energy for anything more than once around the block, and it always made him feel guilty when that happened.</p>
<p>Rae left with Sykkuno and crouched down to pet Bimbus, letting him sniff all over her hands and her jeans because oh em gee other dog owner. “You smell Mika on me, don’t you? Don’t you? We should schedule another play date.”</p>
<p>“Yeah, we should,” Sykkuno agreed.</p>
<p>“I wanna meet Rae’s dog,” Corpse added quietly.</p>
<p>“Omigod that’s right, you’ve never met Mika.” Rae straightened up and brushed off her knees. “We’ll definitely have to get together soon.” She spied her Uber across the street and started towards it. “See you both tomorrow?”</p>
<p>“Yup,” Sykkuno waved.</p>
<p>“Yeah,” Corpse gave a nod.</p>
<p>“Get some sleep, Sykkuno! I mean it!”</p>
<p>“Haha, yeah, I, I will, Rae…” He didn’t sound convincing even to himself. That said, though, he did have to break off waving good-bye to cover up a yawn.</p>
<p>“So you’re going home too, then?” Corpse guessed, sounding amused.</p>
<p>Sykkuno rubbed at his eyes. “I need to get some things. Almost out of dog food, and...”</p>
<p>Bimbus got up on his hind legs eagerly, hopping at Sykkuno’s legs.</p>
<p>“I said dog <i>food</i>, not treats, Bimb.” Well now he’d actually said the ‘t’ word and Bimbus was really excited. Dog food and treats it was, then.</p>
<p>As they began walking in the general direction of the shop where Sykkuno usually bought dog food, Corpse mentioned, “I heard today that the international space station will be passing overhead tonight.”</p>
<p>Sykkuno perked up. “Really? Do you know what time?”</p>
<p>“No, sorry.”</p>
<p>“I can look it up.” Sykkuno passed the leash to Corpse and took out his phone. “If it’s not too late… Rae will kill me if I stay up all night again… Oh, it’s not late at all. Like around eight.”</p>
<p>“Yeah?”</p>
<p>“Yeah. We can probably see it from the park. I’ve watched it pass over from there before.”</p>
<p>“Wanna… Wanna go check it out later?”</p>
<p>“Of course!”</p>
<p>Corpse accompanied Sykkuno on stopping by the store to buy dog food (and treats) and then to grab a few other things he needed before walking him back home. At the entrance to the apartment building, he handed the leash to Sykkuno and said, “Meet you back here around, say, seven thirty?”</p>
<p>Sykkuno looked from Corpse to the leash in his hand and back. “You’re not coming up?”</p>
<p>The little pout and drowsy crackle on the end of his voice paired with the question itself was really, really unfair. Corpse shook his head. “Got something I need to do. Would have gone earlier but Bimbus and I were having too much fun.”</p>
<p>“Oh, okay…” Sykkuno tried not to be too disappointed. They were going to meet back here in just a couple of hours after all. “Think I’ll take a nap.”</p>
<p>“Sounds like a good idea.”</p>
<p>They parted ways on the agreement that Corpse would most likely have to come wake him up. Sykkuno carried Bimbus and his purchases up to the apartment, gave Bimbus his treat, and then shuffled aimlessly around. There was a glass freshly washed by the sink, a used towel in the laundry basket, and the bed was made. The little reminders that Corpse had been there made Sykkuno feel like a little bubble of warmth was filling him up inside.</p>
<p>Sykkuno flopped down on the bed and turned on his side, gathering up the duvet so he had something to hug onto. In shifting it, he heard something clunk lightly against the floor as it fell off the bed and he rolled over onto his stomach to peek over the edge of the mattress.</p>
<p>It was one of Corpse’s rings. He must have forgotten it. Sykkuno picked it up and rolled back, turning it over in his hands. It was heavy silver, with some sort of crest on it and a design that wrapped down the sides to make it appear segmented. Sykkuno experimentally put it on the same finger, the middle one on his left hand, that he’d seen Corpse wear it on. It was too big, so he moved it to his index finger. Still too big. It was a bit snug on his thumb but fit there. He had to laugh a little, embarrassed at just how much it <i>didn’t</i> look right on him. He let his hand drop back against the mattress and stared at the ceiling. He should take a nap, but his head was so full of thoughts, would he even be able to sleep?</p>
<p>Next thing he knew, the apartment was much darker and Corpse was gently prodding him awake.</p>
<p>That answered that question.</p>
<p>Sykkuno quickly pulled a hoodie on over his t-shirt and tied on his sneakers, and together they set off for the park. “Did you finish what you needed to do this afternoon, Corpse?”</p>
<p>“Yeah, yeah, I did.”</p>
<p>“That’s good.”</p>
<p>They arrived at the park and walked to one of the open areas lined with trees. The sky was dotted with a few clouds tinged with colour taken from the city lights below, and the thin crescent moon was like a Cheshire Cat smile peeking out between them. Sykkuno wondered aloud what direction the ISS was going to pass over in and took out his phone to look it up.</p>
<p>Corpse watched over his shoulder curiously, then looked up and behind Sykkuno as he heard a rustling noise that most definitely wasn’t a stray cat or another person out to see the space station. One, two… at least four or five shadow creatures were lurking around. Out here in the open-area part of the park, with considerable distance between them and the nearest light post, it wouldn’t be difficult for even these few shadows to blot out the light and attack.</p>
<p>Corpse noted the time on Sykkuno’s phone. “You said it’s passing by at eight?”</p>
<p>“Like, just before eight,” Sykkuno answered. “To the west, this says…”</p>
<p>It was almost 7:40 now. Plenty of time, and really, the perfect opportunity. Corpse pulled his scythe from the air. “Hold this.” He handed it to Sykkuno. “Just in case anything gets past me.”</p>
<p>“Huh? What?” Sykkuno looked at the scythe pressed into his hand, then at Corpse’s back as he walked away, and then at the shadows he was approaching. The shadows he was approaching weaponless for some reason. “Corpse? Wh-What are you… What are you doing?”</p>
<p>“Testing something out.” </p>
<p>“Um…” Sykkuno put his phone in his pocket and gripped onto the scythe with two hands to have a better hold on it. “O-Okay…?”</p>
<p>Something caught the scant bit of ambient light in Corpse’s hand. Whatever it was, it was small, but Corpse appeared to be just as adept at using it as the scythe. He swiped at the shadows, moving with quick, precise movements. Sykkuno was so focused on trying to see clearly he almost missed when a shadow creature came at him.</p>
<p>Sykkuno stumbled backwards half a step and blocked the inky black tentacle-like appendage as it snapped towards him with the staff of the scythe. He pushed back, tried to pull up on the grip to use the bladed side and nearly fell over as the end stuck into the ground. Why was using it so hard? Sykkuno pulled back and hefted the staff up off the ground, trying again to get a decent grip to swing it around. The shadow was joined by another that ducked under and took a swipe at his legs, nearly tripping him.</p>
<p>As he stumbled, he noticed that there was someone approaching. A very non-shadow and non-Corpse person. It looked to be a young man…? Oh no, oh no. He was walking right up to where Sykkuno was. In a panic, he jerked the scythe upwards. The blade swung wildly, the momentum and its weight pulling him backwards. His knees buckled and he went down hard on his butt. The scythe fell by the wayside.</p>
<p>“Whoa,” the passer-by said. He offered Sykkuno a hand up. “You okay?”</p>
<p>“Y-Yeah,” Sykkuno said sheepishly, brushing grass off the seat of his jeans.</p>
<p>The other person picked up the scythe and handed it to him. Sykkuno couldn’t see him very well, but there was a definite smile in his boyish voice as he said, “This looks pretty dangerous. Careful.”</p>
<p>“Right,” Sykkuno gave a depreciative chuckle. “Yeah, I-I’ll do my best.”</p>
<p>As the helpful bystander continued on his way, Sykkuno grit his teeth and tried again to get a good handle on the scythe. He was still slightly off balance, but at least he got it off the ground this time. He switched his grip on one hand so he could balance better with his hand lower on the staff near his hip while he threw his body weight into throwing the end with the blade forward. A more clever or experienced opponent, like the shadow that had imposter’d Dream would probably have easily evaded it, but he lucked out and caught this shadow creature just below the middle, slicing it in two. The second shadow attacking Sykkuno retreated into the dark.</p>
<p>Around the same time, Corpse finished with his fight and walked back. His approach was marked by a soft metallic <i>swip-click-flick</i> sound but Sykkuno still couldn’t quite make out the source. He took the scythe from Sykkuno and disappeared it in an instant. That same hand then moved to hook a finger under Sykkuno’s chin and lift his gaze to the sky just in time…</p>
<p>“Ah.” Sykkuno spotted the moving spec of bright light that signalled the international space station passing overhead. It crossed the sky in a straight line, too slow and steady to be a shooting star and too far to be an airplane. He’d seen it before but it was still one of those simple pleasures that made him happy each time he saw it.</p>
<p>It was only visible for a few minutes, which Sykkuno and Corpse spent in comfortable silence. They stood side by side with the autumn breeze on the backs of their necks, tousling their hair. A little moment of peace.</p>
<p>Once the ISS had passed out of view, they turned to go.</p>
<p>“What were you testing, anyway?” Sykkuno asked.</p>
<p>“I’ll show you when we get back to your place.”</p>
<p>This only made Sykkuno more curious. He tried to think of what it might be all the way back to the apartment but came up with nothing. Corpse didn’t seem to be in any hurry to tell him, waiting with seemingly unconcerned patience while Sykkuno got them drinks and refilled Bimbus’ water. He accepted the warm mug of tea when Sykkuno finally joined him and patted the cushion waiting next to him.</p>
<p>Sykkuno sat and looked at him expectantly.</p>
<p>“Give me your hand.”</p>
<p>“My hand?” Sykkuno set aside his tea and held one hand out, palm up. </p>
<p>Corpse’s mouth curled into an amused smile as he turned the hand over to bring the heavy silver ring still on Sykkuno’s thumb into full view. “So that’s where that is.”</p>
<p>“Oh yeah, it fell off the bed when I went to take a nap earlier. It’s uh, it’s too big for me.” Sykkuno laughed a little.</p>
<p>“I can see that.” Corpse slipped the ring off and settled it in its proper place on his middle finger.</p>
<p>Sykkuno nodded in appreciation. “Much better.”</p>
<p>Corpse chuckled. “Anyway,” he said, and took Sykkuno’s wrist to raise it again and turn it upwards. Almost by chance it was Sykkuno’s dominant hand, the left one with the scar across his palm that seemed to argue this was the right decision. As if to hide it from sight, he placed something cool, slightly weighty, and smooth against his palm, “this is for you.”</p>
<p>Sykkuno’s fingers curled around the something and he brought it closer for inspection. Wait, he knew what this was. He’d seen it in games and movies and stuff. “A… uh, what’s it called? A butterfly knife?”</p>
<p>“Yeah. You wanted…” Corpse trailed off, a little shaky. Contrary to the proof he’d been presented with, he still wasn’t actually convinced this was a good idea. Or maybe the reality that maybe he couldn’t always be the protector scared him. “You wanted a weapon to be able to defend yourself… when… when you need to.”</p>
<p>Sykkuno looked, wide-eyed, between Corpse and the knife. It was all one colour, a deep gunmetal gray. The polished handle split down the middle to flip up and cover the blade, and he opened this part gingerly, unfurling the blade and turning it so the sharp edge caught the light. “Would you believe I’ve always kind of wanted one of these?”</p>
<p>Corpse snorted. “I want to say I’m surprised but I don’t actually know that I am.”</p>
<p>“They’re cool.”</p>
<p>“They’re at least easier to handle than my scythe, anyway. I tested it out for you tonight back at… at the park. It seems to work okay so, I can… I can show you how… so… so you don’t cut yourself...”</p>
<p>Sykkuno closed the knife back over itself and fixed the latch closed with a satisfied little nod. “Why do you use a scythe anyway?”</p>
<p>“I, uh…” Corpse blushed a little at how silly it felt to say it out loud, “I thought it looked cool.”</p>
<p>“That’s true. It does look cool.”</p>
<p>Leave it to Sykkuno to just accept the answer without question or judgement. Corpse watched him turn the knife over in his hands curiously, pursed lips curved in an almost goofy-looking half smile, curious eyes darting over every angle. Corpse had chosen the butterfly knife because it was small, compact, and elegant. Far less unwieldy than his scythe, and with the added benefit of fitting in his pocket. It looked good in Sykkuno’s hands. It looked… really good in his hands.</p>
<p>Sykkuno noticed him staring and ducked his head, fiddling with his bangs shyly. “Um… Corpse? Wh-What…?”</p>
<p><i>So, about this morning…</i> Corpse wanted to ask. Instead he swallowed and held out his hand. “Here, want me to show you the basic way to open it one-handed? It’s fun once you get the hang of it.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Back at the park, the shadow that escaped Sykkuno whispered through the grass. It caught up with the person it sought and sidled up to his ankles, swirling up one leg to curl around his torso and rest across his shoulders. The young man gave it an affectionate pat on what roughly approximated its head.</p>
<p>“You did good, my friend.” He smiled. “So… a human with a bit of the moon in him, huh? And the moon spirit just hanging out with him… </p>
<p>“Doesn’t that sound like the makings for a fun game?”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Chapter 5</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>No content warnings for this chapter to speak of. Consider this chapter still rated 'T'.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Sykkuno sat cross-legged on one of the counter stools and rocked back and forth slightly while he thought, eyes on his phone screen. The sun was warm on his back, and the ambient noise in the coffee shop was at just the right level to be comfortable. He was scrolling through used telescopes for sale, pondering not for the first time if he wanted to upgrade the little cheap one he’d bought years ago. At the same time, though, he kind of wanted a guitar. Telescope or guitar...Telescope or guitar...</p>
<p>Hrm…</p>
<p>Did he really want to pick up another hobby, though?</p>
<p>He noted the time at the top bar of his phone and saw his break was just about over, so he hopped off the stool and carefully put it back in place. A customer had left recently, so he moved to clear the table they’d vacated and called, “You can take your break now, if you want, Toast.”</p>
<p>“Thanks,” Toast called back and disappeared into the back room to hang up his apron. “I gotta run some errands. Mind being on your own for a bit?”</p>
<p>“It’s pretty quiet, I think I can handle things,” Sykkuno agreed easily.</p>
<p>“Thanks.” Toast headed for the door, “I’ll be back in around half an hour. You need anything?”</p>
<p>“Nah, I’m good, thanks. See you later.”</p>
<p>Sykkuno quickly washed the dishes he’d collected, then took a damp cloth back to wipe down the tabletop. A customer came in for a takeaway order that he filled. He did a quick sweep over the sideboard to make sure nothing was running low, then stood behind the register and resumed pondering over the telescope or guitar question.</p>
<p>He couldn’t afford both, unless he found a <i>really</i> good deal…</p>
<p>Actually that was worth looking into…</p>
<p>He was just about to do another search when the bell above the door jangled to signal a customer. Sykkuno slipped the phone back into his pocket and straightened up to greet them. </p>
<p>The new customer, who Sykkuno didn’t recognize, approached the counter and asked, “There’s a big, scary guy who often comes in here. What does he usually order?”</p>
<p>Big scary guy? That could really only mean…</p>
<p>“Does he wear an eyepatch?”</p>
<p>“Yeah, yeah, that guy.”</p>
<p>Sykkuno leaned back to look at the tea shelf. “He always orders herbal tea.” He listed off what the shop had at the moment.</p>
<p>The customer considered his options. “Which do you like?”</p>
<p>Sykkuno looked at the shelf again. “I like the… the strawberry one, myself, I guess...”</p>
<p>“I’ll have that, then.”</p>
<p>As Sykkuno rang in his order, he glanced up at the young man and asked, “Do you know Corpse?”</p>
<p>“Who?”</p>
<p>“Big scary guy.”</p>
<p>“Oh, oh no, I just think he looks cool.”</p>
<p>“He is pretty cool,” Sykkuno responded happily. “I’ll hand you your tea down there.” He grabbed a mug and set it on the machine to fill with hot water while he took a strawberry tea bag from the box on the shelf. Once the mug was full he gently dipped the teabag in and then set it on the pickup counter. “Let it steep for about a minute, two if you want it strong. If you like your tea sweet, there’s honey or sugar over there.”</p>
<p>“Thanks,” the customer carefully collected his tea and took it to a counter seat.</p>
<p>Sykkuno bit back a smile. He couldn’t wait to tell Corpse that he had a fan.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Corpse’s fan came back every day over the next week, each day at a different time and each time ordering a different herbal tea. Curiously, he never seemed to be there when Corpse was, and on some days just leaving when Sykkuno came to work or just coming in when Sykkuno finished.</p>
<p>“I wish you could meet him, Corpse, he seems like a nice guy, very talkative,” Sykkuno said one evening when the customer had come up in conversation.</p>
<p>“One of these days,” Corpse didn’t seem particularly bothered by it, if a little curious. He finished putting a band-aid on Sykkuno’s finger and handed the butterfly knife back. “Now try again.”</p>
<p>Sykkuno frowned in concentration and with a little ‘eh’ flipped the knife around and open, then with some hesitation moved his thumb down the handle and flipped it back over his hand, turning his wrist and doing another flip to try and change the position in a basic reversal. He was a little slow, however, and the bite guard smacked him across the backs of his fingers. He winced. “Wait, let me try again…” Flip, smack. He bit his lip and frowned harder. Corpse had to try not to laugh at how cute it was. On the third try he got the timing right and his fingers closed safely around the handle. “I did it!”</p>
<p>“Good, good. Now do it again.”</p>
<p>Sykkuno hid a giggle behind his free hand. “Strict teacher.”</p>
<p>More like hot for student, but sure. “You want to get good at it, don’t you?”</p>
<p>“Yup. Here goes…”</p>
<p>Corpse put out his hand and just barely stopped the sharp edge of the blade from turning back on him. “Wrong way around.”</p>
<p>“Oh, right.” Sykkuno rocked a little where he sat and pressed his lips together in concentration. “Let me try this again…” His next attempt was clumsy and it took two tries to get the handle in the right position at the end, but he managed not to almost hurt himself again. Before Corpse could even say anything he told himself, “Again,” and kept at it.</p>
<p>Eventually he reached a point where, while still a little slow and hesitant at times, he could perform the maneuver without mistakes several consecutive times. Corpse set the knife aside and took Sykkuno’s hands in his own, caressing the crisscross pattern of soft skin and band-aids with his thumbs. “That’s enough for today, I think.” He tapped Sykkuno’s phone to check the time. “Early shift tomorrow?”</p>
<p>Sykkuno looked at the phone display. 2:36 a.m. “Uh-huh. But…”</p>
<p>Corpse squeezed his hands gently. “I should go, then. I’ll stop by the shop in the afternoon.”</p>
<p>“O-Oh…” you’re welcome to stay, Sykkuno wanted to say, but shyly couldn’t bring himself to form the words.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Guys, I, I don’t think this is a good idea…”</p>
<p>The number of times Corpse had walked into the coffee shop to find Rae, Toast, Poki, Sean, and sometimes random customers cornering Sykkuno over something or other was more than he could count. Today was one of those days. Sykkuno, Rae, and Toast were grouped around a table looking at something and Sykkuno’s voice had a slight edge of panic to it.</p>
<p>Rae looked up as the bell above the door signalled his arrival. “Hey, Corpse.”</p>
<p>“Hey.” Corpse pulled a chair over and sat next to Sykkuno. “What’s not a good idea?”</p>
<p>Sykkuno hunched his shoulders and put a hand over his mouth. “U-Um…!”</p>
<p>Corpse’s interest was now thoroughly piqued. It was something really embarrassing; you could see it in how deep the smile lines around Sykkuno’s eyes were.</p>
<p>“It’s almost Halloween and we were just discussing what costumes to wear this year,” Rae informed Corpse. She had a tablet with the browser open to a costume shop’s website in her hands.</p>
<p>“Last year we had just opened and wore costumes to work for it, as like a promotional thing,” Toast elaborated, “and customers seemed to like it, so we thought about doing it again this year.”</p>
<p>“I see…” </p>
<p>Rae’s face crumpled as something occurred to her and she had to fight to keep back laughter. “I think… I think Corpse would be really interested in your costume from last year Sykkuno…!”</p>
<p>“Rae, no!” Sykkuno barely managed to wheeze before dissolving into giggles.</p>
<p>Realization dawned on Toast’s face and a slow smile appeared along with it. “Yeah, yeah, you know what I think he would. Rae, you have a picture, don’t you?”</p>
<p>“Uh-huh, you bet I do,” Rae was nearly laughing too hard to search, but eventually she managed to scroll until she found it and passed her phone to Corpse despite Sykkuno’s increasingly desperate protests.</p>
<p>As the photo was only a year old, the Sykkuno captured within didn’t look all too different from the Sykkuno next to him right now; maybe his hair was a touch longer. The photo had clearly been taken in the shop, but instead of his usual work uniform of a plain t-shirt, jeans, sneakers, and apron, Sykkuno was wearing a crisp white button-up shirt with a bow-tie, smart black trousers, a frilly apron… and cat ears.</p>
<p>“Wait…” Corpse squinted at the last detail when he noticed it and looked closer. “Wait…”</p>
<p>Rae was still a helpless mass of giggles. Sykkuno had his face in his hands. Toast was sadistically amused. “Well?”</p>
<p>“That’s illegal.” Corpse meant it in the best possible way.</p>
<p>“What? Illegal??” Sykkuno peeked through his fingers, then started laughing again. “What do you mean by that, Corpse?”</p>
<p>Rae struggled to compose herself. “We tried to talk him into a cat-ear maid costume but had to compromise.”</p>
<p>“Well, that settles it doesn’t it?” Corpse handed her back the phone.</p>
<p>“Revenge of the maid costume?” Toast guessed.</p>
<p>“What?! No!” Sykkuno cried. “You don’t- Corpse! It- It was- The skirt, Corpse, it- it was-”</p>
<p>“What about the skirt?”</p>
<p>“It was pretty short,” Rae snickered.</p>
<p>“Ohh… Oh, I see…” Corpse said in that hazy, airy way that Sykkuno recognized meant he was teasing him. Sure enough, he followed it with, “So what’s the problem?”</p>
<p>“What?!”</p>
<p>Sean came in then and deposited a paper bag in the middle of the table that smelled like deep-fried deliciousness. “Sorry I’m late, I stopped by this new fish and chips place down the way. You gotta try the chips, they’re amazing.”</p>
<p>“Ooh, fries!” Rae and Toast tore into the bag.</p>
<p>Sean grabbed a chair and sat down. “What’d I miss?”</p>
<p>“We’re still trying to decide what costumes to wear for Halloween,” Toast informed him.</p>
<p>“Oh. Is Corpse wearing a costume?”</p>
<p>Corpse squinted at Sean in mock insult. “Uh, no.”</p>
<p>“You could wear my cat ears from last year?” Sykkuno made an attempt at reverse-teasing him.</p>
<p>Corpse started to protest, only for Sean to jump right on the idea.</p>
<p>“Works for me, CorpseCat it is. What about the rest of you?”</p>
<p>Corpse side-eyed Sykkuno, who offered him a french fry and tried his best to look innocent. Corpse wasn’t fooled in the slightest. He still accepted the french fry though.</p>
<p>“Wait, wait, I’ve got an idea.” Sean pointed to each of his staff members in turn. “Sherlock Toast, Watskkuno, and MoRAEarty. How ‘bout it?”</p>
<p>“Haha yeah! I’ll bring my pipe!” Toast crowed.</p>
<p>But Rae wasn’t on board with the idea. “No one will get it.”</p>
<p>“Yeah,” Sykkuno agreed. “What would the costumes even look like?”</p>
<p>Sean threw up his hands. “I don’t know! Do you guys have any better ideas?”</p>
<p>“Put them all in cat ears,” Corpse suggested quietly.</p>
<p>“Corpse…!” Sykkuno broke down laughing yet again.</p>
<p>“Actually…” Toast said slowly, thoughtfully. Everyone looked at him in varying degrees of mixed suspicion, anticipation, and trepidation. “That might not be a bad idea. Maybe we could set up some kind of collaboration with Tina and Ash’s place.”</p>
<p>“We could ask them…” Rae said slowly, considering the idea.</p>
<p>“Just cat ears?” Sean crossed his arms dubiously.</p>
<p>Sykkuno didn’t like where this was going. Sure enough, Toast brought the conversation full circle.</p>
<p>“We could try the mini skirts again.”</p>
<p>“Toast!” Sykkuno protested.</p>
<p>“Wait,” Corpse sat back a little, his share of the collective suspicion on Toast going up a notch or two. “Am I still involved in this?”</p>
<p>Rae burst out laughing at the mental image and nearly choked on her fries. Corpse helpfully moved her iced coffee closer.</p>
<p>“I know that <i>I</i> look good in a mini skirt, so I don’t have a problem with it,” Toast boasted.</p>
<p>Wait, had it been Rae that wouldn’t surprise him but Toast had worn a mini skirt before? And were there pictures of that? Did that mean there were pictures of Sykkuno not just in the cat ears but also in the mini skirt from last year? How could Corpse wrangle this information out of Sykkuno later? Did… Did Sykkuno still <i>have</i> the mini skirt somewhere?</p>
<p>“In any case,” Sean was saying decisively. “I’ll talk to Tina and Ash and see what they think about the idea, and we can go from there. That sound okay?”</p>
<p>No one had any particular arguments, and the meeting ended without Corpse getting any answers either way on his inclusion in the cat ears proposal, never mind the possible existence of mini skirt photos.</p>
<p>It was the end of Sykkuno’s shift, and Corpse stood chatting with the others while he waited for him to grab his stuff. It still felt odd to him sometimes, how they just… included him without question. He never was sure he deserved the warmth they gave him, and if they knew the danger he’d put Sykkuno in… certainly it would all come to an end. Sykkuno might have forgiven him easily, but would his friends do the same…?</p>
<p>As they walked out and Sykkuno was zipping up his hoodie, he looked down the street and went “Hm?”</p>
<p>“What?”</p>
<p>“Nothing, thought I saw that customer who likes you…”</p>
<p>“Should we wait?”</p>
<p>“Nah, like you said, I’m sure you’ll meet him eventually.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Later that same week, Sykkuno had the late shift. Corpse came in to wait just as the part-timer was on her way out. After some time, he noted that Sykkuno had come out from the back room without his apron on and stretched. “Ready to go?”</p>
<p>“Yup, we can go now.”</p>
<p>Corpse pushed in the chair he’d been occupying and waited for Sykkuno to turn out the lights. Intercepting him on the way to the door, Corpse dropped an arm around his shoulders. “Are you hungry?”</p>
<p>“Hm…” Sykkuno leaned into him. “Not really. I could eat something if you wanted to get food, though.”</p>
<p>“No, I was just asking.”</p>
<p>“Are you sure? Or I think there’s also some leftover takeout at my place from the other day, if you wanted it…” Sykkuno sorted out the right key. “I think it was… um… from that, uh, vegan place we tried a while back…”</p>
<p>Corpse considered this option. “Maybe…” He trailed off as his gaze diverted to somewhere behind Sykkuno.</p>
<p>Curious, Sykkuno looked back. “Oh,” he said, recognizing the person standing near them. “hi there. I wondered why I didn’t see you come in today. Um… we, we’re closed now, actually.”</p>
<p>“Oh, I know,” the recent frequent customer said, a wide grin that matched perfectly to his boyish voice on his face, “I was only coming in every day lately to make sure we had enough players.”</p>
<p>“Wh-What do you mean…?” Sykkuno asked, a mere second before he heard Corpse’s sharp intake of breath.</p>
<p>“Sykkuno--”</p>
<p>But it was too late.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Sykkuno slowly returned to consciousness in disjoined sensory fragments. He was cold. His face was pressed against something hard. It was dark. He was lying face down. It was quiet. He remembered locking up the shop with Corpse last. Someone, the recent regular customer who was like Corpse’s secret admirer, had approached them. He felt a little dizzy. The hard thing his face was pressed against was smooth, which meant he wasn’t lying on the street, it was a floor of some sort.</p>
<p>Sykkuno fought down the nausea that threatened to keep him lying there and slowly picked himself up into a sitting position.</p>
<p>Wherever he was, it was pitch black, but as he looked around and hoped his eyes would adjust, he did notice a faint green emergency exit sign in the distance both ahead and slightly to the right of him and behind him. Gradually he became able to see vague shapes, like boxes or short pillars or something. When he cautiously put his hand out to one and used it as a brace to get back on his feet, he felt it was as smooth as the floor he’d awoken on and cool to the touch. So it was glass maybe?</p>
<p>Where was Corpse? He tried whispering his name cautiously into the dark, but the sound died with a faint hollow note. He appeared to be alone in this room or whatever it was in any case. With his hands out and in small, cautionary steps, he headed for one of the exit signs to try and get an idea of where he was.</p>
<p>Seeking hands eventually found what felt like a door. He felt for the handle and pushed, grateful when the latch gave. The door was heavy, and he had to throw his full body weight into the push to get it open. On the other side Sykkuno emerged into a wide, open corridor that curved away from him. To his right was lined with windows that reached all the way up what appeared to be several more storeys. The wall on the left was lined with what the ambient light from outside revealed to be a timeline or something related to… prehistoric eras? It was broken up with display cases featuring models of geological formations and tectonic plates. But why? And was he alone?</p>
<p>Sykkuno decided to keep searching. He followed the corridor, eyeing the outside and looking for a door out or into another room he could check. A quick check outside the window revealed he was on what appeared to be the ground floor, and there were gardens with some statues and metal sculptures and whatnot outside. The timeline on the wall moved from the Precambrian into the Paleozoic eras, the names foreign and illustrated with strange creatures he had vague memories of seeing once upon a time in a distant classroom when he was a boy. When did dinosaurs show up? He remembered watching Jurassic Park on dvd with his family once. Strange the things your mind latched on to for familiarity sometimes.</p>
<p>“Sykkuno?” a hushed voice called out to him from the dark up ahead. The voice was familiar but unexpected.</p>
<p>“Toast?”</p>
<p>Toast emerged from the shadows with a perplexed frown on his face. “What’s going on?”</p>
<p>“I don’t know…” Sykkuno answered honestly.</p>
<p>“Why are we at the science museum?”</p>
<p>“Is that where we are?”</p>
<p>Toast gave him a funny look and indicated the wall, which was currently at the border of the Permian and the Triassic eras. Also dinosaurs had apparently arrived. Duh. Science museum, of course, but why?</p>
<p>Sykkuno looked around nervously. “Did you see anyone else?”</p>
<p>“Nope. I woke up in the dino room all by my lonesome.”</p>
<p>“I was in some really dark room back there.” Sykkuno pointed back the way he came. “I didn’t see anyone until you showed up.”</p>
<p>“Let’s go this way then,” Toast pointed ahead. “See if we can find a way out. Were you with anyone before you woke up here?”</p>
<p>“Yeah, I was with Corpse… and… and that guy who’s been coming in every day lately met us outside as I locked up…” Sykkuno narrowed his eyes and tried to remember. “He said… something about a game…”</p>
<p>“A game?”</p>
<p>“Yeah…”</p>
<p>“Weird. In any case, let's look for Corpse.”</p>
<p>“Good idea.”</p>
<p>They passed by an open door, which Toast pointed out as the one leading to the room he’d woken up in. They peeked in and called out for anyone, but only the millenia-long silence of the different fossils answered so they kept going. A short distance down, they came across another door labelled ‘Mammals’. Toast pulled the door open while Sykkuno peeked in.</p>
<p>“Hello?”</p>
<p>“Hyah!”</p>
<p>Something knocked Sykkuno against the shoulder, catching him by surprise. His knees buckled and he dropped to the floor, curling into a ball and covering his head as the blows kept coming. “Ow! What the- What the heck?!”</p>
<p>“Hey! Hey!” Toast’s voice rang out above the yells of Sykkuno’s attackers, “calm down! It’s us!”</p>
<p>“Huh?” one stopped while the other kept at it. “Wait, wait, Rae! Stop, it’s Sykkuno and Toast!”</p>
<p>“You girls are crazy!” Toast declared. He gave Sykkuno a hand up.</p>
<p>“Sorry,” Rae pushed back her hair and sounded more frantic than apologetic. She had a plastic pole for linking chains through to create temporary fences or barriers at event spaces in hand. Sykkuno was only glad she hadn’t grabbed the metal kind. “We just woke up in this dark museum and it was scary so we thought we should, we should protect ourselves, you know…”</p>
<p>Poki, who also had a plastic pole, nodded in agreement. “Yeah… what’s going on?”</p>
<p>Sykkuno rubbed at his shoulder. “I donno… is anyone else with you?”</p>
<p>“Yeah, me!” Sean emerged from the ‘Mammal’ room.</p>
<p>Toast scoffed. “Letting the girls do your dirty work?”</p>
<p>“You saw how scary they were! They don’t need any protecting from me.” Sean waved his hands at Rae and Poki to illustrate. “Also there were only two pole things and they got to them first.”</p>
<p>Upon seeing Sean, a lightbulb went off in Sykkuno’s mind. They were alone and trapped in a dark place. There could be shadows lurking around. He put his hands palm out before him and said, “Wait, wait, can I ask you guys a strange favour?” He waited until they were all looking at him and quickly before it was potentially too late, requested that they, “don’t- no one… no one say anyone’s names. Okay? Just… not even people who aren’t here or if you see someone. Got it?”</p>
<p>“Uh…” Toast squinted at him, confused.</p>
<p>“What?” Sean gave a confused chortle.</p>
<p>“Why?” Rae asked.</p>
<p>“Yeah, why, Syk--” Poki caught herself just in time.</p>
<p>“Just trust me guys. Okay? Trust me…” Sykkuno pleaded, trying to keep his tone as light as possible. He didn’t want to worry them prematurely.</p>
<p>Toast stared him down, eyes narrowed in thought. Just as Sykkuno began to crumple under his scrutiny and wonder if he should say something more, Toast scratched at the side of his head and said, “Okay, fine. Let’s just go along with what he says for now and keep looking.”</p>
<p>As they collectively continued the search for other people or an exit, Sykkuno followed along behind. Thankfully no one pressed him for a reason, but he knew that he would need an excuse eventually. Not to mention, it would be a difficult task to keep names from slipping out, even for himself. He nervously ran his thumb over the scar on his palm.</p>
<p>Where was Corpse?</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Hey. Hey, wake up.”</p>
<p>Corpse regained consciousness in bits and pieces and took stock of where he was. It was dark and cold… He was surrounded by what appeared to be a variety of vintage vehicles. He rubbed at his head and looked up at who had woken him.</p>
<p>“Brooke.”</p>
<p>“Corpse.” Brooke put a finger to her lips. “Sykkuno’s not with you?”</p>
<p>Corpse bolted upright, and when he didn’t see anyone but Brooke he scrambled to his feet and looked around. “He was, but… you don’t see him?”</p>
<p>“No, you’re the first person I’ve found so far.”</p>
<p>“Man, you were out cold. Been awhile since you went home?”</p>
<p>At the sound of an unfamiliar third voice, both Corpse and Brooke were instantly on alert. Corpse manifested his scythe and set the end against the floor, ready to use it at a moment’s notice. Brooke stayed weaponless for the time being, but the manner in which she held her hand signalled her willingness to pull one out the instant it was required.</p>
<p>Together they searched the room for the source of the voice, finally finding him sitting on the hood of a vintage car with his legs crossed and his hands in the pockets of his hoodie. He wore heavy black headphones that seemed to amplify the fluffy mess of wavy brown hair that fell into his face almost covering his eyes. Corpse recognized him as the young man who greeted him and Sykkuno outside the coffee shop. But that wasn’t all...</p>
<p>It didn’t take Brooke long to recognize the young man for what he was either. “Wait, you’re…”</p>
<p>The young man gave them a wide smile. “I had to be real sneaky the day you came into the coffee shop. I thought Corpse would be the only one I had to avoid. I like that you made the game more challenging though.”</p>
<p>“... a trickster,” Brooke finished her sentence.</p>
<p>He wagged a finger at her. “We prefer to be called ‘jesters’ now. But you can call me Karl.”</p>
<p>“Where is Sykkuno?” Corpse asked, voice low and dangerous.</p>
<p>“We’re gonna play a game,” Karl grinned widely and set his chin on one fist, the elbow set against his knee. “Here’s the set-up: you two are in here with me. The others, including the human you share a bit of the moon with, are on the other side of this very big, very dark museum, and they are accompanied by one imposter. Behind me in this storage closet is the real human that I chose at random to be copied. There are other shadows around, so the number of imposters might go up, there might even be an imposter of me somewhere. If the shadows copy all the humans, I win. If the humans make it out on their own, or if you beat me and free them from the museum, including the one behind me, you win. There’s a perception filter on the exits, so as soon as the regular humans cross the threshold they’ll forget everything that happened in here. Oh, and just to remind you, I’m a jester, so any damage you do to me will be delivered twofold back on to you. Any questions?”</p>
<p>“Yeah, if I kill you does that mean I’ll die twice?” Corpse asked, taking a half step forward.</p>
<p>“Corpse,” Brooke said sharply.</p>
<p>Corpse gave her his brattiest, most reckless look, but stayed where he was.</p>
<p>“We need to be smart about this,” she warned him, voice low and serious. “Sykkuno and the others are depending on it.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Chapter 6</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>This chapter is rated 'T'.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“I don’t like it in here, man. Let’s just find an exit and leave,” Sean said with a frustrated huff. “If there’s anyone else around they’re probably going to do the same thing anyway.”</p><p>“We don’t know that. They might be hurt,” Sykkuno protested.</p><p>“Sykkuno, I’m starting to get the--”</p><p>“Shhh! Don’t use names, remember!” Poki and Toast wheeled around and shushed him.</p><p>“Sorry, sorry.” Sean looked extremely put out and continued what he’d been saying, accusing Sykkuno, “I’m beginning to think you know more than you’re letting on.”</p><p>“Wh-What? I, I don’t know anything. I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Sykkuno nervously tried to half-lie his way out of it. “I’m just as clueless about how we got here as, as you guys are…” That part was true. He suspected it had something to do with the young customer who had met him outside the coffee shop with Corpse. While the others argued the merits of just leaving when the opportunity presented itself versus making sure no one else was around, Sykkuno checked his pocket and was reassured to feel the butterfly knife from Corpse was there.</p><p>Poki had her arms crossed and was arguing for Sean’s case. “I’m with him, we should get out of here as soon as we can. Who else could we even be looking for?”</p><p>“Um!” Sykkuno piped up.</p><p>Toast clued in and held both hands out to Sykkuno for emphasis. “If he’s here, it stands to reason that C-- his boyfriend is too.”</p><p>“B-Boyfriend?!” Hearing the word said aloud for the first time ever, not to mention by someone outside the, the… the <i>relationship</i>, hit Sykkuno with a grand slam of emotions. He… He had a boyfriend. That boyfriend was Corpse. It didn’t feel real. Wait, they’d never actually said the word themselves. They spent time together nearly every day and, and had kissed… and stuff… but... How did relationships work anyway? Okay, okay, never mind all that. He had to stay in the moment right now. Calm down, find Corpse, get everyone out safely and… then… figure that out later. That was the plan.</p><p>“You’re the one who said no names,” Toast pointed out. He knew exactly what his choice of words had done.</p><p>“Y-Yeah, I did…”</p><p>“Oh yeah, that’s true,” Poki bit her lip.</p><p>Rae looked between them. She gave a resigned shrug. “Okay then, let’s keep looking.”</p><p>Sean threw up his hands. “Fine, fine. I guess it is weird he’s not here, now that you mention it.”</p><p>They found the next door and pushed it open, coming upon a central room with a vast model of a blue whale and other sea creatures hanging from the thick beams crisscrossing the skylights that made up most of the ceiling, which was at least six floors up. It looked like this was the focal point of the museum, with railings at each floor all the way up. Right now the skylights overhead were pitch black; not even the moon was visible. Was that just because of the angle and location of the museum or were there shadows blocking out the outside light?</p><p>Poki pointed ahead and up one level. “That looks like the main entrance.”</p><p>“At least we know where it is now when we finally decide to leave,” Sean commented.</p><p>“Let’s check it out and decide where to go from there. This is so weird, what are we even doing here?” Toast groused, looking suspiciously around. It didn’t miss Sykkuno’s notice that his gaze lingered on him for a moment.</p><p>Rae brandished her plastic pole-turned weapon. “Leave whoever brought us here to me.”</p><p>Sykkuno didn’t like this room. He could hear shadows whispering and the fact that nothing stood between them and the stairs leading up to the exit made him wary. Whoever had brought them here wasn’t going to let them leave this easy… or was he just being paranoid? His heart was beating fast and his mouth was dry as he glanced carefully at his friends. If any of them were imposters, who was most likely? Any of them could possibly be one. It was just as possible none of them were.</p><p>He felt sick. Was this how Corpse felt whenever Sykkuno got in trouble?</p><p>Where was Corpse? Was he here somewhere? Was he hurt? Was he okay? How would he know if it was the real Corpse if and when they found him?</p><p>As they reached the middle of the room, there was movement up ahead and Sykkuno had to drop his Corpse worries. He had to move. No matter what happened his friends needed protecting. Sykkuno gulped down a breath and pulled the butterfly knife from his pocket. His hands were shaking so he was a little clumsy on opening it, and it rapped painfully across the backs of his fingers as he flipped it open, around, and then up to the open position. He swung blindly forward, but was altogether too slow. His opponent saw it coming and blocked him easily, throwing up an arm to catch Sykkuno at the wrist.</p><p>Behind him, his friends were collectively raising their voices in surprise.</p><p>“What the-?!”</p><p>“What?!”</p><p>“What the hell?!”</p><p>Wait, that was only three voices. Who didn’t say anything? Were they too shocked to say anything, or…?</p><p>“Whoa! Whoa! I see you took my advice, at least.”</p><p>Sykkuno realized he was face to face with a white smiley face mask. He almost said Dream’s name in surprise as he relaxed and stepped away. The knife rattled slightly in his hands as he used both to close it back over itself. “Dr- er, what, what are you doing here?”</p><p>Before he could reply, there was a flurry of dark hair next to Sykkuno and for the second time in as many minutes Dream had to block someone from attacking him. The plastic pole cut an arc through the air and clattered noisily against the floor to roll off into the surrounding darkness. The attacker was undeterred by being disarmed, and lunged forward again with a feral sound.</p><p>Sykkuno rushed to hold her back, his voice cracking in alarm. “Wait, wait, he’s a- he’s a friend!”</p><p>“What do you mean he’s a friend?!” Rae demanded, her nails biting into his arm painfully.</p><p>Sykkuno winced, both from the nails and from his inability to form a coherent answer.</p><p>“I’m so confused,” Poki sounded strained.</p><p>“Never mind that guy. Since when did you carry a knife?!” Sean demanded.</p><p>Toast let out a breath and spoke clearly, firmly, in the mild, attention-commanding tone that came naturally to him. “Okay, I think we all need to calm down. I’ll accept that you know this guy,” he fixed his eyes on Sykkuno, pointedly following the ‘no using names’ agreement, then turned his gaze to Rae’s angry face, “remember we saw this guy outside the pub awhile back?”</p><p>Rae narrowed her eyes at him. “I don’t remember that.”</p><p>“I don’t remember that,” Dream also said.</p><p>Sykkuno thought a moment, then pointed to his eyes to illustrate and dropped his voice to inform him, “That was, um…”</p><p>Dream clued in on the fact that Toast had seen his imposter not him and quietly went, “Oh.”</p><p>“Yeah.”</p><p>“Okay, see, that’s what’s pissing me off most right now.” Toast’s expression darkened. “You do know that lying by omission is still lying, right?”</p><p>Sykkuno flinched.</p><p>“I’m going to yell at you later,” Toast threatened. He indicated Dream to ask, “you're sure this guy’s your friend?”</p><p>“Uh, Uh-huh…”</p><p>Toast crossed his arms. Sykkuno had known Toast long enough he could see that he’d gauged enough of the situation to understand that Sykkuno thought <i>for some reason</i> someone among them wasn’t who they seemed. It certainly explained the long stare he’d endured earlier. Also Toast was scarily smart that way. “How sure are you?”</p><p>Sykkuno considered what he knew. Dream hadn’t used his name, but he had referenced their earlier conversation about his needing a weapon. He didn’t know how far back the memories imposters acquired when they copied someone went, and asking Dream now before he knew for sure if it was the real Dream would mean he couldn’t fully trust the answer. “Gimme a sec…”</p><p>Sykkuno looked around and took stock of who he was with: Toast, Rae, Poki, Sean, and now Dream. So far the shadows in the room with them were hanging back, whispering among themselves. Sykkuno had woken up alone. Toast had woken up alone. Rae, Poki, and Sean had been together. Dream just showed up out of nowhere. Dream and the others had never met but everyone there knew him, and everyone in the coffee shop staff had already heard his name said aloud by Poki.</p><p>Sykkuno looked up at Dream. “What’s my name?”</p><p>“Sykkuno.”</p><p>Sykkuno nodded once, affirming, “He’s safe.”</p><p>“I'll ask again. How sure are you?” Toast asked, arms still folded.</p><p>Sykkuno thought on this. “Like, 95% sure.” There was still the off-chance he was wrong, but he felt pretty good about it.</p><p>Actually… now that he’d started he wanted to keep trying to puzzle it out. Sykkuno scratched at the back of his head. There was still the chance that none of them were imposters and suspecting his friends didn’t sit right with him.</p><p>Toast had greeted him by name when they found each other, so he passed the name test too, he realized.</p><p>So if there was an imposter, it had to be one of Sean, Rae, or Poki, then… right?</p><p>But if so, who?</p><p> </p><p>Corpse swiped at his bruised cheek with a scowl. Just as Karl had promised, the punch he’d landed had reversed back on him twice as hard.</p><p>Brooke shot him a frustrated look. “I said we need to be smart about this.”</p><p>“You got any smart ideas, I’m all ears,” Corpse snapped back.</p><p>“Stop beating yourself up, for one.” Brooke’s word choice was catty but her tone was serious.</p><p>Karl was wiley, cleverly staying out of reach but always between them and the storage closet holding his unknown captive. He was light on his feet, easily evading whatever they threw at him. Corpse had only landed a blow because he let him; getting in the way of Corpse’s blind run at the storage closet when he thought Brooke had him distracted.</p><p>“At least we know he’s the real jester and not an imposter,” Brooke huffed.</p><p>“Yeah, you’re welcome for that.”</p><p>Corpse noted the dirty look this got him from Brooke and made a concentrated effort to reign in his emotions. As they were messing around here, who knew what was happening across the museum? Karl hadn’t said who the people he’d kidnapped were, but the more he thought about it, the more it stood to reason that it was the coffee shop group. Sykkuno had greeted Karl like he knew him, and there was something about how Karl had referenced players for a game that connected the dots, plus how he’d addressed Brooke. The ‘humans’ trapped in the museum were Sykkuno, Rae, Toast, and possibly Sean and Poki as well, maybe even the other part-timers who came in once or twice a week. With a pang he realized there was no keeping secrets from the others after this.</p><p>That actually made him angrier.</p><p>Keeping the others safe and <i>worry free</i> had been so important to Sykkuno, and to Corpse as well.</p><p>The three days spent looking after Sykkuno were still vivid in the back of his mind. Brief moments like Toast taking it upon himself to change Sykkuno into more comfortable clothes for sleeping when Corpse’s hands were shaking too bad, Rae angrily reminding him that he needed rest too and shoving him out the door, Sean stopping by to check in and softly greeting an unconscious Sykkuno as ‘buddy’ while he agreed to do anything to help out, both Rae and Toast ignoring their own advice and falling asleep side by side on the floor in the middle of watching over Sykkuno. And then the week of enforced rest, of meals eaten together the four of them over video games to keep Sykkuno company, Toast and Rae planning the beach trip, Poki gently helping out when the number of customers during his shift subbing in started to overwhelm him…</p><p>None of them had ever pressed Corpse to answer the questions they most certainly had. None of them blamed him or got angry with him when it was clear they had every right to.</p><p>And Sykkuno… Sykkuno risking his life to try and fix his stupid mistake. Sykkuno warmly accepting him into his life when Corpse had no business being there. All the soft touches, gentle kisses, and warm smiles... Sykkuno’s hushed voice asking him to stay…</p><p>
  <i>He should have just let him leave.</i>
</p><p>Okay, don’t dwell on what can’t be addressed now, he told himself, think. If they couldn’t hurt Karl, they had to trap him someplace, or distract him long enough to get past him. But how?</p><p>They were in a room full of vintage vehicles, with shadows, both sentient and not, thick around them. Corpse looked around and up, cars all across the floor, a locomotive in the distance, planes overhead… old cars, old train, old planes… a glider...</p><p>Corpse searched the ceiling and found what he was looking for. “Hey Brooke.”</p><p>“Yeah?”</p><p>He flicked his eyes from her to the ceiling, trusting her to catch on. “Think you can hit that?”</p><p>She searched a moment before her eyes focused. Brooke brushed back her hair from her face and in that motion her mask appeared; a simple masquerade mask that hugged her cheekbones with a pattern evocative of radiant pink and green mermaid scales. She pulled a thin throwing knife coloured in the same general motif from the air and sent it flying.</p><p>It landed true, splitting the thick cable attached to a model of an early-model glider. One more and a second cable snapped. The front of the glider dipped dangerously with a metallic groan and the sound of fracturing wood. It swung with slow certainty directly to where Karl had taken up residence to taunt them from between their position and the storage closet, and he was forced to move out of the way. This was Corpse’s cue. He lunged forward, grabbing on and using his scythe to cut the last cable, using his added weight to direct the light-bodied glider to fall in the same direction Karl had dodged. Karl laughed as he hopped over the car he’d backed into, which was exactly what Corpse wanted. He followed, jumping down off the falling glider and driving Karl into the backseat of an old-school convertible car on the other side. Brooke, always quick to catch on to what he was thinking, was right behind him. She grabbed the reinforced canvas roof and pulled it up and over, trapping Karl inside. It wasn’t going to hold for long, but they were banking on it being long enough.</p><p>Corpse dashed for the storage closet and wrenched it open. His heart stopped when he saw who was inside...</p><p> </p><p>Sykkuno straightened up, on alert, a half-second after Dream. The shadows were moving in. Not all at once, but it seemed they were less inclined to hang back and watch. Whatever signal or opportunity they had been waiting on must have presented itself somehow. They didn’t have much longer before the situation got much, much worse.</p><p>Sean looked nervously around. The dark had gotten so thick it was noticeable even to the others. “Uhh… you know what? Corpse is a big boy, he can handle himself. I’m getting the fuck outta here.” He started for the door.</p><p>“No wait,” Sykkuno tried to say. His head spun. Sean had used Corpse’s name. Had anyone used Corpse’s name so far around him?</p><p>Dream moved to intercept. “Nonononono, okay! Let’s just- let’s calm down, okay? Going off on your own is the last thing anyone wants to be doing right now.”</p><p>But Sykkuno didn’t know what had happened or what had been discussed with the other three before he and Toast joined up with them. He didn’t have enough information. So far he felt pretty good about Toast and Dream, and now Sean seemed pretty safe. He wanted to believe Sean was safe. That just left Rae and Poki who needed to be cleared. But could he be 100% certain about any of them?</p><p>Sykkuno watched Dream reasoning with Sean and tried to think if there had been any other clues to tell him apart from his imposter, but that whole ordeal had happened so quickly, and the eyes of course had been a big giveaway. He thought back to when Sean had been copied at the coffee shop that one time, but Imposter Sean had kept them all fooled almost to the very end; only the inconsistent stories had given him away. But was that the only thing? What else had been odd about that time? Some other hint that had been present that time hovered just out of reach.</p><p>Sykkuno thought of his experience with 5up and Hafu. His first hint with them had been the shift in how they acted with each other. Was anyone acting different? Everyone seemed pretty normal given the circumstances. So… did that mean everyone was safe?</p><p>This was so confusing.</p><p>The darkness was continuing to grow thicker, so he didn’t have much more time to ponder the mystery before he had to make a decision either way. It was getting too dangerous to let everyone stay here. If anything, letting everyone leave while he and Dream searched for Corpse was beginning to seem like the safest option, but that was only provided that no one was an imposter. And they still had no idea who had even orchestrated this whole situation or if they would even let them leave in the first place.</p><p>Sykkuno didn’t normally curse, but he certainly felt like it at the moment.</p><p>“How about this,” Dream was saying reasonably, “we split up into two groups and check the doors on this floor, then decide again if we go up or go out. That sound okay?”</p><p>Sykkuno looked around to gauge everyone’s reactions. Toast put his hand to his chin in thought. Poki crossed her arms and looked to Sean. Sean shrugged. Rae pointed at Sykkuno and said, “I’m sticking with him.”</p><p>“What, why me?”</p><p>“Because I don’t trust you.”</p><p>“Wha?! Why, why don’t you trust me?”</p><p>“I just don’t.”</p><p>“I thought you didn’t trust him,” he pointed to Dream.</p><p>“I trust him even less!”</p><p>“Why do we need to split up at all?” Poki asked. “Why not just go around together?”</p><p>Dream shrugged. “You wanna get out of here, don’t you? We’ll be just as safe in two groups of three as one group of six, plus splitting up means it’ll go faster.” Everyone agreed this sounded logical. “Okay, so let’s do this. I’ll go this way, Sykkuno will go that way. We need the other four of you to decide who to go with.”</p><p>It seemed a set fact now that Sykkuno’s was the only safe name to use. Dream had the right idea since they were the only ones with weapons. He switched his knife to his other hand and wiped his sweaty palm against his jeans. Rae was set on coming with Sykkuno. What would the other three do?</p><p>Toast answered first, pointing at Dream. “I’ll go with him.”</p><p>Sykkuno felt a faint prickle at this. Was it because Toast was angry with him? He didn’t want to be around Sykkuno?</p><p>Poki and Sean looked at each other, both indecisive.</p><p>Rae grabbed onto Poki’s arm. “Us girls will go with Sykkuno. He needs our protection.”</p><p>“You think I couldn’t protect my Sykkunie?!” Sean demanded. “He’s got a knife though, think I’ll stick with this guy anyway.”</p><p>“What? You think I’m dangerous? I-I know how to use this,” Sykkuno protested. Never mind that he was still new with it.</p><p>“That’s what scares me,” Sean shot back.</p><p>He definitely was never going to live the knife thing down now, was he? Also did Sean not notice that Dream’s knife (sword) was bigger?</p><p>“Okay, we’ll go this way, you guys go that way, and we’ll meet up again on the other side.” Dream, Toast, and Sean split off and went left.</p><p>Sykkuno took a deep breath and looked between Rae and Poki. “Well… uh…”</p><p>As they started walking to the right, Poki wrapped her arms around herself and asked, “Just me, or does it seem darker somehow?”</p><p>Sykkuno laughed nervously and made hazy noises of agreement. He absently flipped the knife open and then shut again.</p><p>Poki noticed, watching him curiously. “Where did you get that anyway?”</p><p>“Oh, um, it, it was a uh, it was a... gift…”</p><p>“From, uh…?” she put one hand over one eye and the other over her mouth to illustrate her guess.</p><p>Sykkuno had to laugh a little at how easy to understand it was. “Yeah.”</p><p>“Well, be careful, the last thing anyone needs is for you to come into work looking all beat up again.”</p><p>Yet another thing he was never, ever going to live down.</p><p>Sykkuno turned contemplative. Could he count Poki as being safe? She certainly seemed to be the same Poki as always…</p><p>They came up to a door and Rae wrenched it open. “More science stuff,” she declared and slammed it back shut before the other two had even had a chance to see inside. The sound reverberated in the large, open room. Sykkuno and Poki blinked in surprise.</p><p>“Uhh…” said Sykkuno.</p><p>Poki sighed and reached for the door. “At least let us see too. I know this is stressful, but you’ve been acting weird ever since I woke up…”</p><p>Sykkuno peeked around the door as she pulled it open. ‘More science stuff’ appeared to be a bunch of displays and models of rudimentary electricity or… something. More science stuff was accurate in any case. Sykkuno stepped back and something else occurred to him.</p><p>“Wait, so who woke up first out of you guys? It wasn’t you?”</p><p>“Pretty sure it was her,” Poki pointed to Rae.</p><p>Rae shook her head and pointed across to the other side of the room, where they could vaguely see Dream, Toast, and Sean making their way down their end. “It was, uh…” she looked directly at Sykkuno as she followed the no-names rule, “him. That guy.”</p><p>So Sean was the first person awake out of their group?</p><p>“Are you sure? You seemed much more alert when I woke up,” Poki looked unconvinced.</p><p>“But you were definitely the last to wake up?” Sykkuno confirmed.</p><p>“Yeah.”</p><p>“What does it even matter?” Rae started for the next door. “We all woke up basically around the same time, didn’t we?”</p><p>Sykkuno took this new information into consideration. One of them was lying, maybe, and Sean wasn’t there to give his perspective. Poki said that Rae had been acting weird, but was she? Did anything Rae had said or done seem especially out of character? Blindly attacking him and Dream had been surprising but at the same time, could he really say that it was beyond the scope of what Rae might do in a high-stress situation like this? Out of their core trio of friends, Rae had always been more of the ‘take-action’ type compared to him and Toast. Hm...</p><p>Rae noticed him watching her and narrowed her eyes. “What?”</p><p>Why was she so suspicious of him? That was the weirdest thing to Sykkuno right now. Sean and Poki wanting to leave made sense. Toast being mad at him for keeping secrets made sense. Dream showing up out of nowhere to help was unexpected but not entirely outside the realm of possibility. Theoretically she could just be mad at him for the same reason as Toast but why was she acting so… antagonistically? Was that the right word?</p><p>“What?” he said back to her.</p><p>It didn’t feel right. Rae was one of his best friends. He trusted her to always have his back. He thought of all the times she’d been there for him. All the times she’d made him coffee when he didn’t sleep enough, the time she’d stepped in and angrily berated a customer for getting on his case over some minor mistake with their order, how she’d run to his side when he showed up at work with his face all beat up, or when he’d just woken up from his coma…</p><p>“I don’t like how you’re looking at me, <i>Sykkuno</i>.”</p><p>“Wh-What? How am- How am I looking at you?”</p><p>“Like you think I’m plotting to kill you or something.”</p><p>“Are you?” Sykkuno asked bluntly.</p><p>Poki stepped between them. “Guys, this isn’t really the time to start fighting…”</p><p>His running mental list of all the times Rae had been there for emotional support added the very recent memory of Rae in the early morning light at the coffee shop, looking at him with concern in her eyes.</p><p>
  <i>”I like Corpse, Sykkuno, I like him a lot…”</i>
</p><p>Sykkuno walked up to Rae and held onto the door handle just above where she had a white-knuckle grip on it. He looked inside. It was dark, teeming with shadow creatures in the corners, and decorated with dioramas about static electricity and lightning around one of those big silver balls you could put your hands on to make your hair stand on end.</p><p>“What do you see in there?” he asked, watching Rae’s face closely.</p><p>Rae glanced in the room, then flippantly back at Sykkuno. “More science stuff.”</p><p>Rae was a nurturer. She was everyone’s big sister. For her to react rashly and even violently in stressful situations wasn’t unexpected. But right now, one of Rae’s adopted ‘little brothers’ was missing from the group and the fact that she wasn’t beside herself with worry? That was a huge red flag he’d taken far too long to see.</p><p>“Let me ask you a question,” Sykkuno said slowly, evenly, already certain he knew the answer and mentally preparing for it, “do you even know who we’re looking for?”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Chapter 7</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Some of the action maybe gets a bit intense this chapter and the very last scene skates very close to the M rating line but ultimately doesn't cross it (and for that I am sorry).</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“I… I… I don’t know what to do. He won’t wake up. I didn’t know where else to go… I just… I don’t know…” The words tumbled out, becoming more and more incoherent as he went on. “I just, I need… Can you p-please… just...”</p>
<p>There was a hand on his arm, calming, comforting. It belonged to the first person he had thought to go to. He forced himself to focus on that hand, and on the sound of the voice telling him, “Corpse, it’s okay. Take your time, calm down, and tell me what the problem is.”</p>
<p>“I, I don’t know what to do… He won’t, he won’t wake up… he won’t wake up...”</p>
<p>“Who won’t wake up?”</p>
<p>“You ha- you have to… I don’t- I need- just, please…” he was hyperventilating, panicking as the words wouldn’t come to him properly. “I didn’t- I didn- I didn’t know… where else to… to go… I…” Corpse tried again to focus, and even then only managed a broken, “Please, Rae…”</p>
<p>“Okay, Corpse,” Rae kept her voice level and put a hand on his cheek to coax him to look at her. “I need you to take a deep breath and answer just one question. Can you do that for me?”</p>
<p>He nodded shakily. He was trembling so badly it scared her, but letting that show wouldn’t help right now. They were outside the coffee shop just before opening. Poki was standing at the door with wide eyes, looking frightened. Corpse had shown up out of nowhere in a panic that neither Rae nor Poki had ever seen before on him or anyone.</p>
<p>Rae considered what she’d managed to piece together so far and asked, “Who won’t wake up?”</p>
<p>“S-Sykkuno…”</p>
<p>“Okay.” The moment he said it, Rae realized she expected that answer, and that actually made it more frightening. “Do you need me to come with you to Sykkuno’s apartment? Yes or no.”</p>
<p>He nodded yes.</p>
<p>“Okay,” what the fuck what the fuck what the fuck, “Poki, I’m sorry, can you handle opening by yourself?”</p>
<p>“Yeah, yeah, sure…”</p>
<p>Rae nodded and put some pressure on Corpse’s arm to urge him into motion. “Thanks. Let’s go, Corpse.”</p>
<p>Corpse nodded, no longer possessing the energy to reply verbally. Knowing Rae was coming with him made the panic marginally more bearable. Even so, it was still all he could do to stay upright, to not vomit all his anxiety out onto the street and keep functioning. Every breath shot spikes of pain radiating through his chest. Should he just tell Rae everything? Would that make things better or worse?</p>
<p>They arrived at Sykkuno’s apartment and Rae dropped her bag next to her shoes with an absentminded, “Hi, Bimb…” before heading straight into the bedroom. “Sykkuno…? Are you alright?” She knelt next to the bed and fussed over him a bit, patting his face and brushing his hair out of his eyes before setting the back of her hand against his forehead. “He’s burning up…” She got back up and went to the kitchen, shooting Corpse a worried glance as she passed by him still standing in the entrance. “Corpse, what happened?”</p>
<p>“I don’t- I don- I don’t know, I…” Corpse stammered.</p>
<p>Rae took down a clean washcloth and soaked it in cold water before returning to place it gently on Sykkuno’s forehead. He didn’t make a move or a sound, but he seemed to be breathing normally. She adjusted the duvet over him and noted that Sykkuno was wearing the same clothes he’d had on when they went for drinks and wings the night before. Another, harder shake of his shoulders produced no reaction. But she couldn’t panic. Not yet, anyway. Corpse was panicking enough for the both of them.</p>
<p>Rae shifted one of the sitting cushions in his direction, and invited, “Come here, Corpse.”</p>
<p>Corpse sat as directed. He wrapped his arms around himself and watched Sykkuno worriedly.</p>
<p>Rae took out her phone. “I’m going to call Toast, okay?” She sat next to Corpse and pulled him down so he was laying with his head in her lap. He looked exhausted, and a bit rough now that she got a good look at him, like he’d been in a fight or something. He was shaking, but seemed to have calmed down ever so slightly while she smoothed his hair and waited for Toast to pick up. When Toast finally stopped letting her calls go to voicemail, Rae glanced back at Sykkuno and bit her lip. “Sorry to wake you, Toast. Can you… come meet me and Corpse at Sykkuno’s place? Yeah… he’s got a fever and, um, you’ll, you’ll see when you get here, just come straight up...”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Corpse wrenched open the storage closet and his heart stopped when he saw who was inside. He quickly checked himself, disappearing his scythe and the toothy fitted mask in favor of a more familiar appearance before he dropped to his knees. His hands were shaking as he reached out to try and wake the person who had been trapped inside.</p>
<p>“Rae… Rae, wake up…”</p>
<p>Her head lolled to the side and he hurriedly shifted position to keep her upright and facing him. <i>Oh god, oh god, oh god…</i> “Rae… Rae, please…” He pulled her to his chest and tried to keep from hyperventilating. What should he do? He couldn’t think. Was she… Was she breathing…?</p>
<p>Rae heaved bodily and made a violent retching noise deep in her throat. Corpse jolted upright and drew back to look her in the face. She coughed and gagged, digging her nails into his arm while it passed. Eventually she looked up with tears stuck to her lashes and croaked, “Corpse…?”</p>
<p>Corpse clutched her into a tight hug. “For a moment I thought you were…” He couldn’t bear to finish the sentence.</p>
<p>“What’s… What’s going on…?”</p>
<p>Behind them, Karl managed to work his way out of the convertible and screwed up his face in disappointment. “Dang… You got past me...”</p>
<p>Brooke grabbed him by the collar and shoved him against the side of the car. “Alright, you little brat, we freed our friend. Now you’re gonna tell all your little shadow friends to back off the others. Got it?”</p>
<p>Karl bobbed his head from side to side. “Well…” he dragged the word out, “that wasn’t the way the game went, was it? I said <i>everyone</i> had to get out for you to win, remember? My friends and I still have a chance yet.” He slid his eyes to the side and looked behind him at the shadow creatures lurking in the sidelines with an impish grin. “Right, guys?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Imposter Rae stared up at Sykkuno with narrowed eyes. The shadows around them grew more restless, the whispers crescendoing until Sykkuno was sure that even Poki could hear them. Imposter Rae then let out a sharp, mirthless laugh. “Well, what can you do? We tried.” She grabbed Poki by the arm and yanked hard, shoving her into the static electricity room full of shadow creatures and moving to slam the door after her.</p>
<p>“What the hell, Rae?!” Poki cried.</p>
<p>Luckily Sykkuno still had hold of the door. He held fast with one hand and stuck the other out to Poki. When she didn’t immediately notice, he ducked under Rae’s arm and grabbed her by the wrist. Once he had Poki safely back out in the hall and free of the shadow-filled room, he took off running with her in tow. “That isn’t Rae.”</p>
<p>“What? What do you mean?!”</p>
<p>“I’ll…” he bit his lip, hating to say it, “I’ll explain later, for now, we have to get back to the others and tell Dream.”</p>
<p>“Tell who? The funny mask guy?”</p>
<p>Oh, right, the names. He would just have to gamble on Poki being the real Poki at this point. Surely they weren’t both imposters, were they? Were they all imposters? That… that wasn’t possible was it? It was either trust or crippling paranoia at this point, and call him an optimist when it came to other people, but Sykkuno was going to choose ‘trust’.</p>
<p>Sykkuno and Poki raced around the second floor walkway, all the way to where Dream, Toast, and Sean were about three quarters of the way up their side. Imposter Rae was close behind them, so rather than slow down, Sykkuno just started shouting, “Dream! Guys! It’s Rae! It was Rae!! She’s an imposter! She tried to get Poki!”</p>
<p>“Right,” Dream put his back to the rail to make room and spoke over the questions Sean and Toast had that no one had time to answer just then. “Pretty sure these two are clear, keep running and get all three of them outside.” He jerked his head back towards the entrance to signal his two companions. “Run. Go with Sykkuno.”</p>
<p>The dark was closing in. A quick glance confirmed that the skylights above weren’t even vaguely visible anymore. Whatever tether had kept the shadows at bay until now was definitely undone now. Sykkuno’s lungs burned. He flipped open the butterfly knife and cut down a bold shadow that tried to stand in their way. <i>Come on, come on, come on…</i> he pleaded with himself desperately. His friends depended on it. He had to be strong…</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Rae stuck out a hand to steady herself against the wall. She looked up as Corpse hovered next to her and stubbornly insisted (again), “I’m not letting you carry me, Corpse.” She stood her full height and noticed her hand had landed next to a map of the facilities. “Why are we at the science museum?”</p>
<p>Corpse didn’t have an answer. He was just glad it wasn’t the abandoned laboratory again.</p>
<p>Brooke backed up to join them from where she’d been fending off Karl and his shadow friends. She looked to Rae. “Where do you think is most likely for Sykkuno and the others to be?”</p>
<p>“Sykkuno and who? Who else is here?!” Rae demanded. Now that she was getting her strength back, she was sounding progressively more worried and angry.</p>
<p>“We don’t know yet.” The way Brooke said it, the words sounded more like an apology than a statement.</p>
<p>Rae looked back at the map, then in a flat tone answered Brooke’s question like it was the most obvious thing in the world. “The exit, clearly.”</p>
<p>Corpse checked where it was noted on the wall above the map. “Main exit’s second floor, main building.”</p>
<p>“This is the fifth floor of the west building,” Rae pointed out. She traced a path with her finger. “Straight down this hall there should be a passage that connects to the main building. Then cut across the exhibit room and that should put us in the main hall. I remember being here once before, all the floors have walkways that look out over the entrance.”</p>
<p>“This way.” Brooke urged them in that direction. “Corpse, you should go ahead. I’ll handle things here and take care of Rae.”</p>
<p>“You sure?” Corpse looked worriedly at Rae.</p>
<p>Rae scoffed. “Just go. Find Sykkuno and whoever else is here.”</p>
<p>“If they’re not at the main exit, I’ll come back.”</p>
<p>“Be careful,” Brooke told him. She shot a quick glance behind them at where the enemy was oddly not pursuing them and put a hand on Rae’s shoulder to keep her moving.</p>
<p>“You guys sure have some explaining to do,” Rae grumbled.</p>
<p>“Yeah, we do…”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Corpse raced through the darkened museum. With Rae behind him he brought out his scythe and the fitted toothy mask again. She was going to see it eventually at this point, but even so… He cut down shadows that appeared in what could only be classified as halfway between a blind rage and a blind panic. Please let Sykkuno and Toast and whoever else Karl had forced into this mess be at the main entrance. Please let them be there and please let them be safe.</p>
<p>He careened down the passage to the main building and across the exhibit room, dodging around display cases as he went. The door crashed open with a loud, echoing bang and he was unprepared for how narrow the walkway was, doubling over the rail with a whoosh of breath. Before he could recover his balance, he was dogpiled by shadow creatures. They swarmed him, pulling at his arms and legs, trying to wrap around his limbs and his neck. In the struggle he lost grip of his scythe. It sailed down to the very bottom of the great hall and clattered noisily against the floor. <i>Shit!</i> He managed to work himself free and took off running for where he could see an emergency exit sign glowing to indicate the stairwell.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Startled by the crash from overhead and the clatter that followed it below, Sykkuno detoured to the side and looked down. He could just barely make out what looked like a jet black staff and curved blade lying against the white and gray marble floor. He jerked his head up and strained to see. “Corpse!!”</p>
<p>“Sykkuno!” The familiar voice was paired with running footsteps overhead.</p>
<p>“We’re at the second floor entrance!” Sykkuno shouted and ran back to where the others were trying to unlock the doors. Sykkuno noted there was an added security latch at the floor and stooped to pull it out. One of the shadows grabbed at his ankle and he tipped forward, his head cracking against the glass.</p>
<p>Toast reached to make sure he was okay with a sputtered curse word, and Sykkuno took the hand up. He shook his head clear and saw the shadows closing in. “You guys go ahead.”</p>
<p>Sean took over opening the door, exclaiming, “Don’t have to tell me twice. This is a freaking nightmare!” while he ran out onto the wide, open wood deck overlooking the gardens outside the museum. He made it exactly three steps before suddenly dropping like a stone, collapsing face down onto the deck with a dull thud.</p>
<p>“Sean?!” Poki shouted. She dashed forward and, in the exact same spot, she also dropped to the deck without a sound.</p>
<p>It happened so fast Sykkuno and Toast could barely choke out a surprised attempt at reacting, unable to comprehend what they’d just seen. Both were frozen to the spot, fearing the worst.</p>
<p>Corpse came running out of the stairwell to their right. He gave into his relief at the sight of Sykkuno and swept him up into his arms, almost kissing him on the cheek before realizing he still had the toothy mask on. He disappeared it, not bothering to replace it with even the eyepatch, and hugged Sykkuno close.</p>
<p>Sykkuno held him just as tight. “Corpse! Corpse you’re okay.” He began babbling in a panic. “Corpse, Sean and Poki… they just collapsed outside! I think- I don’t- what if they’re…!”</p>
<p>Corpse looked to the outside, then left Sykkuno with Toast to cross the threshold and check on them. “They’re fine. Sleeping. There’s a, a… a thing called a perception filter on the building right now. They won’t remember anything when they wake up.”</p>
<p>“They’re okay, though?” Sykkuno confirmed worriedly.</p>
<p>“Yeah. If Toast or Rae go outside right now the same will happen to them, though.”</p>
<p>“Just me and Rae?” Toast narrowed his eyes.</p>
<p>Sykkuno gave a start and raised his voice in panic anew. “Rae! We, we gotta find Rae! Rae is…”</p>
<p>“Rae is with Brooke. She’s on her way here.”</p>
<p>“We’re here, we made it,” Brooke’s voice reached them from the same stairwell Corpse had come down.</p>
<p>“Rae!” Sykkuno ran over and threw his arms around her. “Rae!! I’m sorry! I’m so sorry! Are you mad?”</p>
<p>“Oh, I’ll be mad at you later,” she promised, sounding frustrated and tired. “Right now I’m just glad to see you guys are okay.”</p>
<p>Toast’s dark eyes took in Sykkuno and Rae’s tearfilled reunion, Brooke’s tense posture as she watched over it, Corpse’s face half-obscured by some sort of weird purple glow next to him, and Smiley Face Guy and Rae-but-not-Rae grappling a short distance away. Sean and Poki were unconscious but otherwise fine behind him, <i>supposedly</i>. There was definitely something or someone else there, always in the dark just outside his peripheral vision. He crossed his arms and addressed Corpse, “What do you need me to do?”</p>
<p>A new voice joined the conversation in a flurry of unexpected motion, shrouded in the signature blacker-than-black darkness of the shadow creatures. “I need you to play your role.” The darkness shifted and part of it detached to wrap itself around Toast and Corpse, revealing Karl in its wake. He took advantage of the stairwell group’s surprise, closing the distance between them before anyone could react. </p>
<p>“Hey!” Brooke recovered first and reached for Karl but the other shadows hitching a ride on him got in the way, wrapping their way up her arms and she struggled to keep them from encompassing her.</p>
<p>Other shadows detached from that group and latched onto Rae and Sykkuno with such force that they were torn apart.</p>
<p>“What the--?!” Rae shouted.</p>
<p>“Rae, no!” Sykkuno reached for her but the shadows dragged him back until he tripped and fell against the stairs. “Brooke!”</p>
<p>Karl stood in the middle of it all and clapped his hands with glee. “This is awesome! You guys sure are keeping things interesting.”</p>
<p>Sykkuno winced as the edge of the stairs bit into his back. “Wh--” He tried to fight his way back to his feet, but Karl came over and stood on the steps, straddling three up with his long legs to put one foot next to Sykkuno’s head. </p>
<p>“I gotta say, you especially were just perfect for your role.”</p>
<p>Role?</p>
<p>Role?!</p>
<p>“Wh-What do you mean, ‘role’?” Sykkuno asked, trembling.</p>
<p>“We’re just playing a little game!” Karl spread his arms and grinned just as wide. “You guys looked like you were having so much fun in the park, I wanted to join in!” He hopped up the stairs to circle around and wrap his arms around Sykkuno’s neck. “So I set up a little scenario for us, and you’re the wild card. Other than me, of course.”</p>
<p>“A-A game…?” Sykkuno’s blood ran cold. “You think this is… fun?”</p>
<p>Karl looked perplexed. “Isn’t it? It’s not like your friends will remember anything later.” He leaned closer to Sykkuno’s ear. “And want me to let you in on a little secret...?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Corpse was still weaponless but managed to fight his way free of the shadows. He turned to help Toast, but when he cast a glance to check in on what was happening at the stairwell he froze.</p>
<p>Brooke managed to fight free just in time to see as well and shouted, “Sykkuno, no!”</p>
<p>Feeling detached from reality, Corpse realized something.</p>
<p>He’d never seen Sykkuno angry.</p>
<p>He’d seen Sykkuno happy, excited, and pleased plenty of times. Sleepy, more times than he could count. Sad, blue, and worried, unfortunately. Determined and brave, yes. He’d also been lucky enough to see him with eyes full of dreamy romance. But angry? Not once. Not even a little.</p>
<p>The Sykkuno across the way, in the process of rashly swinging his knife around towards Karl, was definitely angry. Lips pressed in a thin line, eyes narrowed in glittering fury, it was almost scarier than what he was in the process of doing.</p>
<p>Sykkuno didn’t know Karl was a jester.</p>
<p>He didn’t know that if he did any damage it would--</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Sykkuno sliced directly through Karl and nearly fell into Brooke as he spun around. Karl laughed, pointing at Brooke and Corpse, and shouted, “You guys should see your faces!” even as he turned to black smoke and dissipated.</p>
<p>“Jesus,” Brooke put her hand on her heart. “When did he have time to make an imposter of himself?” She pushed Sykkuno forward. “I’ll help Rae, you go help Toast and Corpse.”</p>
<p>Sykkuno took off running. He had just reached the shadows swarming Toast when there was a flurry of motion all around him and suddenly he was face to face with Rae. But Rae was behind him with Brooke. In the few seconds it took to register that this was actually Imposter Rae, she grabbed hold of him. </p>
<p>They struggled, but she had the advantage of surprise and strength. It didn’t help that, while his brain understood it wasn’t really Rae, she still looked exactly like her so his instincts still held him back. It didn’t take long for her to completely overpower him, getting past his defenses to grab him by the collar. Imposter Rae twisted, throwing everything into lifting Sykkuno off his feet and throwing him towards the center of the room. He hit the railing next to the stairs leading down to the first floor hard on his side, heard a crack, then pitched forward and plummeted over the rail towards the marble floor below.</p>
<p>Corpse had been so focused on the shadows and freeing Toast that he didn’t even see Imposter Rae break away from Dream and come this way. He spun around at the sound of Brooke’s sharp gasp just in time to see Sykkuno fall and his heart got stuck in his throat. Before he could even begin to react, Imposter Rae and more shadows were on him. Then Dream re-entered the fray but even then, they were so focused on defending themselves no one could get even the slightest reprieve to check on Sykkuno, and Corpse’s dread began to build as the time with no sound or sign of life from the first floor dragged on...</p>
<p>Suddenly in the midst of it all Karl was there again. The real Karl? It was impossible to tell. He sat on the rail and looked towards the floor below with a giggle. “Oops! Man down?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Sykkuno groaned and rolled onto his side. The fall had knocked the wind out of him and every cough and wheeze to get it back was like a hot poker stabbing him straight through. Everything ached, and his first attempt to sit up sent harsh, blinding pain shooting through him. He slapped a hand against the floor and fought back the nausea that came with it when he managed to get upright. Thankfully nothing seemed broken; most definitely bruised, and there was that crack he’d heard, but nothing that prevented him from moving was broken in any case. He could hear the commotion continuing overhead. Something black and shiny caught his eye. He’d landed near Corpse’s scythe.</p>
<p>He was so overwhelmed. Rae had been imposter’d. Rae, Toast, Sean, and Poki had been forced into this scary situation all because of him. Corpse, Brooke, and Dream were in trouble too, because of him. He had to do something. </p>
<p>Sykkuno squeezed his eyes shut and reached desperately within himself. If there was ever a time he needed to use the moonlight within him, it was now. He coughed again, this time focusing on the pain. Using it. This wasn’t a game. This wasn’t a game at all. All the more reason why he had to <i>win</i>.</p>
<p>His shoes slipped against the floor. His knees were weak and shaky, but he managed to skitter upright, picking up the scythe as he did so. Somehow, miraculously, his butterfly knife was still in his other hand even after the fall. He flipped it shut and put it in his back pocket as he ran. The scythe had more reach and he needed both hands.</p>
<p>The dark was lighter. <i>Finally!</i> He could see the shadows scattering before him. He could see clearly… The blood was rushing in his ears as he took the last step. Toast was closest to him, wrapped up in blacker-than-back tendrils that had squeezed his throat and were invading his mouth through sickly, wet gagging noises. Sykkuno grit his teeth and swung, blade parallel to the ground, cutting the shadows away from Toast. The momentum pulled him a full 360 degrees but he’d done this enough times now that he was ready for it and used it to his advantage. He dashed forward as he came around and adjusted the angle, cutting at downward diagonally and freeing both Corpse and Dream next. Shadows scattered, most retreating to the corners and nooks and crannies where they belonged, but some gathering around Karl, who was sitting on the rail, mouth open and staring in shock.</p>
<p>Sykkuno stumbled on his next step and lost grip on one hand. The scythe veered wildly behind him, jerking his arm backwards and he had to take two steps back and lean against it, throwing weight into his opposite shoulder to stay upright. It was this sight that everyone was presented with when the grating, metallic sound of the blade scraping against the floor drew their attention: </p>
<p>Sykkuno stood with his shoulders back, chest heaving with each gulp of breath, the blade of the scythe curving up behind him, and his eyes shining brightly in the dark.</p>
<p>“Sykkuno…” Dream trailed off.</p>
<p>“Oh my god,” Brooke breathed. “Corpse…”</p>
<p>It was the realization that she had never seen Sykkuno like this that broke Corpse out of his reverie. Imposter Rae and some of the braver shadow creatures made a break for it, but Corpse reached Sykkuno first, wrapping an arm around to take the scythe from his hand. He also took advantage of the closeness to ever so briefly cup his face and put their foreheads together. Sykkuno looked up at him, gorgeous and dangerous with moonlight brimming in his eyes. Corpse could have kissed him. Instead he murmured, “Let’s kick their ass, baby.”</p>
<p>In full possession of his scythe, Corpse brought it around and changed direction, swinging it over Sykkuno’s head to cut down the shadow closest behind him. In a motion perfectly paired to his, Sykkuno pulled out his butterfly knife and flipped it open, switching up his grip effortlessly in a basic reversal so he had the blade in just the right position to cut through a shadow on the swing back up. It was exactly as Corpse had only just taught him.</p>
<p>Even so, there were still some experiences Sykkuno needed to be protected from. Corpse pulled him back by the arm, stepping in front of him to take control of their offensive when the time came to defeat their last attacker.</p>
<p>Imposter or not, Corpse couldn’t put Sykkuno through the experience of ‘killing’ Rae.</p>
<p>Back where he was still sitting on the railing, Karl sighed. “Game over.” To the remaining shadow creatures he offered a sheepish shrug. “It was fun while it lasted, guys. Maybe next ti--” He broke off in a surprised squawk as Dream grabbed him in a headlock.</p>
<p>“Hey, Karl, hey buddy, I been looking for you. Wanna come play games with me?”</p>
<p>Karl visibly paled. “Oh no…”</p>
<p>“Thought you had me fooled in the park, huh, didn’t you? Like I didn’t know your sneaky little self was helping that shadow get away from me!” Dream’s ability to sound cheerful and threatening at the same time was uncanny. “You thought…!”</p>
<p>Brooke had a steadying arm around Rae’s shoulders as they approached from the stairwell to join everyone at the entrance. Rae held her palm out to Dream and Karl and irritably began with, “Okay, I don’t know you two so we’re not even going to address that. Toast, are you okay?”</p>
<p>“Yeah,” Toast said hazily. “You?”</p>
<p>“No. Sykkuno, Corpse, you guys, you… you better start talking.”</p>
<p>“Um…” Sykkuno shrank under her gaze, unconsciously moving closer to Corpse’s back.</p>
<p>“Wait, wait,” Brooke said reasonably. “We should get out of here first.”</p>
<p>Toast shook his head. “Apparently if Rae and I leave we forget everything.”</p>
<p>Dream, who still had his arm firmly around Karl’s neck, conversationally contributed, “Karl could just take down the perception filter if you wanted. Right, Karl?”</p>
<p>“Uh, Uh-huh…”</p>
<p>Toast looked to Corpse, who had in the interim disappeared his scythe and reverted to his more familiar appearance with the eyepatch and surgical mask. But Toast knew what he’d seen, even if he couldn’t explain it. “Give us the ten second version, then Rae and I will make our decision,” he said.</p>
<p>Corpse looked back at Sykkuno.</p>
<p>Sykkuno hesitantly peeked out from behind Corpse and answered, “All those times I came into work looking beat up was kind of because of stuff like, like this but it’s not Corpse’s fault please don’t be mad at him. You were never supposed to know, I-I-I didn’t want to worry you...”</p>
<p>Toast stalked up to Sykkuno and raised a fist, his eyes hard and his jaw set. Sykkuno flinched. He bit his lip and waited, ready to take the blow. He deserved it. Toast stopped just short of actually punching him, but the threat remained. His voice was at its lowest and angriest that Sykkuno had ever heard. “Alright, then. We’ll talk about this later. Sound good to you, Rae?”</p>
<p>“You bet we will.”</p>
<p>Sykkuno was shaking all over. “U- Uh-huh.”</p>
<p>“Rae and I leave with our memories intact.”</p>
<p>“O-Okay…”</p>
<p>Toast stepped back and looked around. With a huff he asked the question everyone had in the backs of their minds, “Now how are we all going to get home?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Corpse spent the next several minutes in a haze. Ubers were called and the group collectively found their way through the gardens surrounding the museum to the street without incident. They had to leave the doors unlocked but Karl, who was still firmly in Dream’s custody, assured them no one would know they had been there. Dream then cheerfully bid everyone good night and dragged Karl off to whatever his invitation to ‘play games’ entailed. Everyone was too tired to give it much thought.</p>
<p>Brooke and Rae took the still unconscious Poki home in one car, Toast took Sean in another, and Corpse and Sykkuno took the last one. Corpse watched the streetlights play off Sykkuno’s face in silence the entirety of the car ride, elbow on the windowsill and fist pressed to his mouth. His other hand was on the seat between them, fingers laced through Sykkuno’s. They were both trembling. Corpse was a flurry of emotions, but at the forefront of it all was that unforgettable image of Sykkuno with his scythe, full of determination, eyes bright. Every time he saw it… the second night they met, the fight with Imposter Dream in the street… he couldn’t explain why, but it affected him so strongly… and tonight… tonight had been… He was too wound up to think straight and couldn’t come down from the high it gave him.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The moment the door closed behind them, Corpse shoved Sykkuno against it and kissed him forcefully. Sykkuno made a startled noise but otherwise gave no sign of protest. Corpse kissed him hard, harder than he’d ever dared to before, running his tongue all around the inside of his mouth with the heels of his hands pressed firmly on either side of his throat and one thigh riding between Sykkuno’s legs to keep him exactly where he wanted him. When he finally came up for air, it was to all but growl the words, “You were so hot tonight.” His hands moved up to grip him roughly by the hair as he sucked at Sykkuno’s neck, baring his teeth to catch the skin. “So fucking hot.”</p>
<p>Sykkuno grasped at the back of his jacket and his eyes fluttered shut; the night had left him so out of sorts that he was willing to let Corpse do whatever he wanted with him. No hesitation, no nervously playing coy, he was pliant under Corpse’s hands. Sykkuno’s breath was hot against Corpse’s ear, punctuated with fragments of his name. Corpse grabbed him by the ass and thrust against him, and the fragments came together in a desperate mix between a whimper and an outcry.</p>
<p>Corpse kissed him on the mouth again, demanding, intensely. Murmuring Sykkuno’s name like an incantation. He fisted Sykkuno’s shirt and roughly yanked it up--</p>
<p>Sykkuno let out a high-pitched gasp and flinched as blinding pain fired across every nerve, and everything came dizzyingly to an abrupt standstill.</p>
<p>Corpse met Sykkuno’s wide eyes, then looked down, this time holding the t-shirt away from his skin and lifting it more carefully to reveal the deep purple and red bruise that had bloomed on his side from his hip all the way up to the bottom of his ribcage. Shifting the shirt showed other, smaller bruises forming on his abdomen around scrapes and scratches, and who knew where else he’d been hurt that night. Corpse was paralyzed by the sight of it, and when Sykkuno reached to reassure him with <i>that hand</i>, the one with the damned scar across his palm, something within him shattered.</p>
<p>Corpse buried his face in Sykkuno’s shoulder and banged a fist against the door. “I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry.”</p>
<p>Sykkuno listened to the distress in his voice and blinked back tears of his own. “I-It’s okay, Corpse…” he said softly, “It’s okay… I’m, I’m fine...” One tear escaped, streaking down his cheek to pool, salty and too-real, in the corner of his mouth. His voice cracked on the edge of a sob as the dam broke. “Everything will be fine.”</p>
<p>The windows grew lighter as morning dawned outside, and Sykkuno continued gently rubbing Corpse’s back in slow, calming arcs. Bimbus came in to check on them and then wandered back to hop on the bed and turn in a circle.</p>
<p>Sykkuno took the hint and nudged Corpse, coaxing him up. “Corpse, I need- We should- I-I still gotta work today… um…”</p>
<p>Corpse sniffed and moved off him. Utterly exhausted, they joined Bimbus on the bed still in their clothes. In stark contrast to mere moments ago, Corpse held him like he was made of spun glass as Sykkuno eventually dropped off to sleep.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. Chapter 8</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Second to last scene is rated M for uh... Netflix and chill. :'D<br/>If you are not into that, when you see '***' skip ahead to the next '***' to read the final scene of the chapter because it is important to the plot. Thanks!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Rae and Toast were chilly and distant all through work, and Sykkuno gave them their space. He was exhausted and everything ached and all things considered, he figured it was best to wait until after their shift to try and address what had happened anyway. Poki complained of feeling under the weather when she came in but seemed otherwise fine. Sean had also messaged Toast to say he wouldn’t be stopping in that day for the same reason. When Poki and the part-timer took over the evening shift, Sykkuno awkwardly hovered in the back room while the other two wordlessly gathered their things and hung their aprons. They both looked so tired, and he hated that. He wished they could all just go home to rest, but the decision to <i>not</i> put off the inevitable, much as he wanted to, had already been made.</p>
<p>“Do, do you guys… um…” he shrank back and hunched his shoulders when they both looked at him directly for the first time that day, but summoned the last of his courage to finish, “wanna come to my place… so… so we can, um, talk…?”</p>
<p>“That seems best,” Toast said.</p>
<p>“Yeah,” Rae agreed.</p>
<p>Corpse was there when they arrived. He sat in the corner of the bedroom with Bimbus in his lap and let the three long-time friends direct how this was going to go. Sykkuno sat a short distance away on one of the cushions with his back to the bed. Rae sat cross-legged on the bed, and Toast took the computer chair on the other side of the room.</p>
<p>“Start talking, Sykkuno,” Toast was the first to break the silence, his voice firm but otherwise unreadable.</p>
<p>Sykkuno studied his hands. “I… I don’t know where to start…”</p>
<p>“At the beginning.”</p>
<p>“Right, yeah, that makes, um, sense, doesn’t it… um, well…” Sykkuno fiddled with his hair and shifted position, wincing as that only served to remind him of his bruised rib. “So, so…”</p>
<p>Slowly, carefully, Sykkuno recounted all that had happened since that first night the shadow creatures attacked him on the way home. He told them what really happened to Sean the night they were trapped in the shop by a storm, about his experience with 5up and Hafu at the abandoned laboratory, about Imposter Dream… and, what he understood of it, the real reason behind his three-day coma. He relied heavily on Corpse’s help to piece together the whole story about the previous night’s museum experience, but between the two of them they managed to get it all out into the open.</p>
<p>Toast and Rae listened mostly in silence. Rae sometimes interjected with angry or surprised sounding noises, and Toast had a few questions to clarify things, but otherwise they listened patiently through the whole story.</p>
<p>“...and, and… here we are,” Sykkuno finished. He looked at his hands and waited to see how they would react. Or rather, he prepared himself for the worst.</p>
<p>“Well, that all certainly explains a lot…” Toast said at length.</p>
<p>Rae pinched the bridge of her nose and shot Corpse an angry look. “Corpse!”</p>
<p>He gave a start, not expecting to be called out (yet). “Y-Yeah?”</p>
<p>“How do you lose an eye?!”</p>
<p>What little could be seen of his face between the eyepatch and surgical mask turned pink. “Uh… I’m really sorry, Rae, I…”</p>
<p>“Don’t apologize. What’s done is done. I’m just…” she pointed at him, repeatedly for emphasis, “trying to… wrap my head around this. How do you <i>lose</i> an <i>eye</i>?!”</p>
<p>“Uh, I just, it just…” Corpse fumbled to explain. “It just… happened…?”</p>
<p>“But… but…” Rae sputtered. “It’s an <i>eye</i>! Your freaking eye! In Sykkuno!! How does that just happen?!”</p>
<p>“I don’t- It just- It just… It really just happened, I don’t know what to tell you.”</p>
<p>“He was moonlight at the time, Rae,” Sykkuno helped without helping. “He was moonlight!”</p>
<p>“How does that make it any different?!”</p>
<p>“In any case,” Toast interjected, “as I understand it, so long as Sykkuno has Corpse’s eye he’s in danger, because of the supernatural power that comes with it. But he can’t give it back without dying, so Corpse is protecting him from these creepy shadow monsters that can copy people and other scary spirits and stuff.” Toast considered mentioning some other things he’d intuited, like how Sykkuno had seemed scarily able to protect himself, or the fact that somewhere along the lines their protector/protectee relationship had developed rather quickly into a romantic one, but decided against it and left all that unsaid. The latter especially was Sykkuno and Corpse’s business, and not for him to stick his nose into. “Is that the situation?”</p>
<p>“Uh-huh,” Sykkuno answered.</p>
<p>“Yeah…” Corpse added softly.</p>
<p>“And you didn’t tell us all this shit because you thought it would worry us?”</p>
<p>“Uh-huh,” Sykkuno answered again.</p>
<p>Corpse became very focused on petting Bimbus’ fur.</p>
<p>Toast screwed up his face and scratched at his head while he thought this over. “Okay… Much as it pisses me off, I get that. It's too crazy to believe and Sean and Poki are happier not knowing.”</p>
<p>Sykkuno bunched his hands up in his lap and his voice got very small. "I'm sorry. I understand if you're angry…"</p>
<p>Rae huffed and scooted forward to sit at the edge of the bed. She put her arms around his shoulders in a hug from behind and set her chin atop his head. "If we're angry it's just because… this is, this is <i>a lot</i>. It’s just, it’s a lot, and I understand your reasoning too, but still! I mean, we were worried either way, right? At least this way we have a better idea of what we’re worrying about. You tried to handle it all on your own when you could have just talked to us, especially when things got... really scary." She shifted position so it was her cheek resting on his head instead for a better angle to look at Corpse. "Same goes for you, you big idiot."</p>
<p>Corpse avoided her gaze guiltily. It wasn’t hard to imagine what particular moment she was thinking of when she said ‘really scary’.</p>
<p>Sykkuno brushed at stray tears with the backs of his hands and sniffed.</p>
<p>“I’m not saying…” Toast broke off, and made an attempt to soften his tone. “I didn’t mean I’m not glad we know now. Like Rae said...”</p>
<p>Rae pulled Sykkuno closer, and he gave no resistance, resting his head against her and letting her smooth his hair. He swiped at another tear. “I’m sorry…”</p>
<p>“Saying you’re sorry isn’t going to change anything,” Toast said reasonably.</p>
<p>“But no more secrets,” Rae admonished gently. She looked to Corpse again. “Okay?”</p>
<p>“Okay,” Sykkuno promised, voice haggard with tears.</p>
<p>“Okay,” Corpse agreed, sounding close to tears himself.</p>
<p>Rae contemplated him, fingers still combing through Sykkuno’s hair. “Spirit of the moon, huh?”</p>
<p>“Y-Yeah…”</p>
<p>“And Brooke?”</p>
<p>“Brooke’s a star spirit,” Sykkuno answered.</p>
<p>“Like Smiley Face Guy,” Toast added, remembering from what Sykkuno had told them.</p>
<p>“That’s Dream, and yeah.”</p>
<p>“That punk-ass kid who trapped us in the museum?” Rae added to confirm.</p>
<p>“Trickster spirit,” Corpse told her.</p>
<p>Something clicked and Toast recalled the seashell he had sitting on the windowsill at home. “What about that girl we met at the beach, Lily?”</p>
<p>Sykkuno smiled faintly at the memory. He’d skipped over that part of the story. “She was an ocean spirit.”</p>
<p>“And Sykkuno,” Rae summed the list up.</p>
<p>“Yup,” Sykkuno said, the faint smile still on his face. He closed his eyes and focused on Rae’s comforting touch, letting the relief at having everything finally out in the open settle within him. “Plain old regular human Sykkuno.”</p>
<p>The rest of the evening was divided between more talking, ordering food, putting on movies, and generally just being in each other’s company. They pulled out the guest mattress and blankets and without it really being discussed, everyone ended up staying the night.</p>
<p>At some point past midnight, after Rae and Toast had dozed off, Sykkuno carefully climbed up to where Corpse was sitting on the bed with his back to the wall next to the window. Corpse accepted the company with a gentle arm around his back.</p>
<p>“You okay?” Sykkuno asked.</p>
<p>“Yeah…” Corpse said softly, then rethought. “No… I don’t know.” He watched Rae and Toast sleep and sighed. “Kind of... overwhelmed. They’re so… I thought for sure they would be furious… I don’t, I don’t deserve their kindness.”</p>
<p>“Sure you do.”</p>
<p>“I don’t.”</p>
<p>“I get that you feel that way, but I think you do, and they think you do, too.” Sykkuno rested against Corpse’s shoulder as best he could without it hurting and put their heads together. “I can’t make you forgive yourself, Corpse. I can only be here for you and, and keep hoping that… someday you’ll believe me.”</p>
<p>“No promises,” Corpse replied wryly, pressing his lips to Sykkuno’s temple as he said it. Sykkuno had long since accepted this as the closest thing to an agreement he was going to get.</p>
<p>“You know, back at the museum… Toast called you my boyfriend.”</p>
<p>Corpse’s arm around him shifted slightly, the angle of his hand changing so it laid flat against Sykkuno’s side. It wasn’t his bruised-rib side, but he was still careful to be gentle as possible. “Yeah?”</p>
<p>“It made me realize that we… kinda… um… never really talked about it…” Sykkuno took Corpse’s other hand in both of his and ran his fingers over his rings. “Not really… not about… about that… Like, we have but we haven’t, you know? Um...”</p>
<p>Corpse wove finger patterns with Sykkuno, while the pinky and ring fingers of his other hand at Sykkuno’s side curled inward around the hem of his shirt. “Is that the label you want to put on… on us?”</p>
<p>“I don’t know… I guess? Maybe?” Sykkuno’s cheeks tinged with colour. “If we were going to… I mean, what else would we call it?” He felt Corpse’s middle finger join the other two under his shirt and couldn’t hold back a smile at the subtle intimacy of it. He sandwiched Corpse’s other hand between his own and laced their fingers together. “I guess labels don’t matter in the end.”</p>
<p>“You asked me to stay, and I…” admitting it out loud even now was scary, “I want to stay…” Corpse’s voice was low, rough, and earnest in the muted way that Sykkuno had always liked about him, ever since they’d first met. “However you’ll have me.”</p>
<p>“That seems kind of one-sided…?” Sykkuno looked at him with a frown, though it faltered when the rest of Corpse’s hand found its way under his shirt to press intimately and not at all subtly directly against his skin.</p>
<p>Corpse leaned his face closer and his voice dropped to the register Sykkuno had only recently started to become more familiar with, the one that made him feel warm all over. “Is it? I mean, I… think I’ve made it pretty clear how I feel about you. But where that goes or what it becomes is up to you, Sykkuno. I’ll follow your lead.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>A couple weeks later, right around when Sykkuno had just started to be able to move around without it constantly aching, he was working a morning shift with Rae and Toast. It was right after the initial weekday rush and there were no customers sitting in when the door opened and the comfortable morning mood turned on a dime.</p>
<p>“Nonononono!” Dream held out his hands and bravely stepped into the line of fire of the murderous gazes his companion had become the focus of. “We come in peace!”</p>
<p>The door opened again to let in Corpse and Brooke. Brooke took the opportunity to smack Dream’s companion upside the head as she passed around them.</p>
<p>“Ow…” Karl rubbed his head. “Guess I deserved that…”</p>
<p>“You guess?” Brooke repeated. She went to stand by the counter, protectively putting herself between Dream and Karl and Rae and Toast.</p>
<p>Sykkuno waited while Corpse went to a table near the register side of the counter and pulled out a chair, then asked, “What’s going on?”</p>
<p>Corpse shrugged. He folded his arms and waited.</p>
<p>Dream pushed Karl forward. “My friend here has something to say.”</p>
<p>Karl hunched his shoulders and tried unsuccessfully to appear small. “I’m, um…” he took a deep breath, “I’m sorry! I just wanted to play but I took it too far!”</p>
<p>Initially this was met with dumbfounded silence, until...</p>
<p>“You think?” Brooke and Rae said at once.</p>
<p>“You just…” Sykkuno still needed time before he could even think of snarking on what Karl had said, “wanted to… to play?”</p>
<p>“He’s a jester, he can’t help himself,” Dream tried to provide support.</p>
<p>“Yeah…” Toast dragged the word out, “not sure I’m convinced.”</p>
<p>“What do you mean, you just wanted to play?” Sykkuno pressed. He could feel the anger coming off all the people around him, and if he was completely honest with himself, a part of him still felt that way too, but he chose to reserve judgement. Imposter Karl had said the same sort of thing; now was a chance to hear an explanation from the real person.</p>
<p>“Well, I, I mean… you’re so cute and he’s so cool… I just, I wanted to have some fun with you, you know?”</p>
<p>Whatever Sykkuno had been expecting, that was not it.</p>
<p>“Oh my god,” Rae groaned.</p>
<p>Toast shook his head. “All those times he complained people aren’t into him, now we know it’s because <i>supernatural boys</i> are who’s into him.”</p>
<p>“Wh-What?!”</p>
<p>“I know, right?” Rae turned to the machine. “I need another coffee, it’s too early for this. Anyone else want anything?”</p>
<p>“Ooh, can I get a mocha please?” Brooke requested.</p>
<p>Dream screwed up his nose. “I don’t really like coffee. Can I just get like a juice or something?”</p>
<p>Toast reached for a glass. “Orange or apple? I think there’s also some mango in the back.”</p>
<p>“Orange sounds good.”</p>
<p>“Corpse, you want tea?” Rae called.</p>
<p>“Uh,” Corpse leaned forward and looked over at the tea shelf, “sure. I’ll have the uh… the coconut chai.”</p>
<p>“Oh, I haven’t tried that one yet,” Karl said, then pressed his lips together and hunched his shoulders again when everyone’s attention snapped back to him and the room came to a standstill all over again.</p>
<p>Corpse leaned back in his chair and stared Karl down. Finally, sounding guarded, he said, “It’s pretty good.”</p>
<p>Sykkuno picked up on what Corpse insinuated by that response and handed Rae another mug. “Two coconut chais then. And can I get an americano once we’re done with everyone’s orders? I could use a coffee too.”</p>
<p>Rae took the mug. “Sure. Toast?”</p>
<p>“Yeah, I’ll have one too.”</p>
<p>Brooke took the chair next to Corpse and across from Dream. She pulled out the fourth chair at the table and gave Karl a pointed look. Karl hunched his shoulders further, so much that they were almost touching his ears. He looked so pathetic that Sykkuno couldn’t help but take pity on him.</p>
<p>“I think it’s safe to sit, they won’t kill you.”</p>
<p>“Not today anyway,” Dream added cheerily.</p>
<p>“Yeah, yeah, not today anyway,” Brooke sat back and pointedly waited.</p>
<p>Rae watched Karl take the empty chair and shook her head. “I don’t know what to make of any of this.”</p>
<p>A thought occurred to Sykkuno as he helped out by steaming milk for Brooke’s mocha. “I guess it’s kind of like those anime where the enemy becomes your friend after you defeat them.”</p>
<p>“I want out of this anime,” Rae grumbled. “My heart can’t take it.”</p>
<p>Sykkuno spent the remainder of the morning coming to terms with this new normal. The quartet of supernatural beings sat around a table and chatted, while he and his two human best friends worked and served the customers who came in and out. He wondered if it should feel more strange to him… should it feel more strange to him? He couldn’t decide.</p>
<p>He passed by the table to check in and see if anyone wanted a refill. Karl seemed more at ease now. He still acted slightly cowed, but was talking more animatedly and closer to the impression Sykkuno’d had of him when he first started coming in. His apology was seeming more and more genuine. When Sykkuno took Brooke’s mug for a refill, he briefly rested his hand on Corpse’s shoulder to check in, and Corpse nodded to assure him he was fine.</p>
<p>In the end he supposed he was just happy to be surrounded by good people, human, spirits, tricksters, or whoever.</p>
<p>This new normal wasn’t any more strange than the old-new normal had been. Strange or not, he was okay with it.</p>
<p>***</p>
<p>The new normal quickly settled back into the usual routine. Sykkuno rested against Corpse’s chest, comfortable, warm, feeling the soft rise and fall of Corpse breathing. They had been playing video games, but Sykkuno became too tired to focus around 3 a.m. and they switched to Netflix. Corpse had offered to leave, but Sykkuno sleepily asked him to stay for just a little longer and here they were. </p>
<p>The episode of the anime they were on ended and as the screen counted down to auto-playing the next one, Corpse softly asked, “Are you even awake?”</p>
<p>“Mm-hm.”</p>
<p>He felt Corpse chuckle soundlessly underneath him. “Barely.”</p>
<p>“One more episode.”</p>
<p>Corpse brushed his lips behind Sykkuno’s ear. “One more episode,” he relented, sounding amused. “You’ll be asleep before it ends though, I bet.”</p>
<p>Sykkuno laid his head back across his shoulder. “Do you... want to go home?”</p>
<p>The light from the television played off Corpse’s features, creating odd moving shadows. At this angle, Sykkuno could see the faintest bit of purple glow coming from underneath his eyepatch. Corpse’s full lips were smiling around the words “No, I’m perfectly fine where I am,” and Sykkuno couldn’t take his eyes off them.</p>
<p>“Corpse…”</p>
<p>Corpse looked from the television down at him. “Hm?”</p>
<p>The angle was too inviting to resist. Sykkuno reached his face closer, pressing a kiss against those lips. Corpse responded with a soft ‘mn’ and one kiss turned into two, then another and another. Corpse’s hands slipped under Sykkuno’s shirt, making his heart stutter. The way they were sitting gave Corpse much more access to touch him, and his hands on his skin felt so incredibly good Sykkuno wanted more. Sykkuno whined high in the back of his throat with need, pushing with his feet against the mattress to press closer, one hand reaching up to curl around the back of Corpse’s neck. It still wasn’t enough. One of Corpse’s hands roved across his stomach and Sykkuno grasped wildly at it with his free hand, pressing it against the fine hair that trailed down his navel.</p>
<p>Corpse’s fingers twitched and he paused to ask, “Do... Do you want…?”</p>
<p>Sykkuno swallowed hard. He did. He really, really did. They’d never… not… not yet… not even after the talk they’d had, and he really, really wanted it. They’d come so close so many times now he felt like he might go mad. “Please…”</p>
<p>Corpse’s breath hitched and he kissed him on the mouth again. He hooked his thumbs under the waistband of his track pants and his underwear, pushing them both down together, and the noise Sykkuno made when he touched him surprised even himself. Corpse curled over him and trailed kisses down Sykkuno’s neck, alternating sucking at the skin and laving it with his tongue. Sykkuno came undone in his lap, writhing and wantonly bucking his hips as best he could while half-pinned down from behind under Corpse's weight.</p>
<p>He was only faintly aware of Corpse taking one hand away and the sound of him undoing his belt and the zipper of his jeans. Corpse bodily shifted their positions and laced his fingers over the back of the hand Sykkuno had in his hair, then guided it down to... <i>oh</i>. Corpse was hot and hard, the skin soft like velvet, thicker in his hand than when Sykkuno touched himself. Sykkuno turned into him so he had a better angle, eyes closed, face pressed into his neck. Corpse nudged him and Sykkuno opened his mouth eagerly, tongue darting forward to slip against Corpse’s and elicit a moan, low and deep, from him. Sykkuno sighed against his lips, made drunk off the heady sound of it.</p>
<p>Corpse pressed his lips to his ear and in a devastatingly sultry voice whispered, “<i>Fuck…</i> baby, you’re so....” But it was his ending this with a rough bite on his earlobe that really pushed Sykkuno over the edge. Corpse followed after him, with quieter, raspy breaths, open-mouthed against where Sykkuno’s jaw met his ear and spilling messily between them.</p>
<p>Panting and sweaty and with only the long-forgotten television for light, Corpse was the first to speak with a hoarse, “Wow…”</p>
<p>“Yeah…” Sykkuno agreed.</p>
<p>“That was…”</p>
<p>“Mn…” Sykkuno agreed again.</p>
<p>Corpse kissed him on the temple, the cheek, the corner of his mouth. “We should get cleaned up before you really do fall asleep.”</p>
<p>Sykkuno’s head lolled against his shoulder. Too late. Corpse laid his head against his, trying to contain his laughter as much as possible with a quiet, affectionate, “oh my god…”</p>
<p>***</p>
<p>Sykkuno came awake and stared a moment at the ceiling. Did he hear the alarm? Did he not hear the alarm? Did he work today? What day was it? He grabbed his phone and checked the time; 5:24 a.m., alarm was on, then the calendar, he had the late shift, alarm was wrong. He could sleep more. He turned off the backups and turned on the preset late shift alarms, then dropped the phone back next to his pillow and stretched before rolling onto his side.</p>
<p>Sykkuno froze, his eyes widening momentarily before there was a stab of sharp pain in his left eye that forced him to squeeze them both shut. He struggled to take a breath, each shallow attempt coming out with a quiet, strained cry. One hand over his left eye, he tentatively opened the right, and tried to see through the watery haze that had sprung up from the pain.</p>
<p>Because he had to see for certain.</p>
<p>Corpse was next to him, lying facing him like he had before in the other time they’d shared the bed. In the morning light coming through the open curtains he looked ethereal, soft, and… somehow not right. It was too much, too… light, too soft around the edges, like the opacity had been turned way down on a digital image. The right side of his face was the most unfocused, the purple glow spilling out from under his eyepatch to curl like wisps of smoke across the pillow and up into the air, almost as if he were coming apart.</p>
<p>“Corpse…?” Sykkuno carefully reached a hand forward, hesitant to touch him, but eventually brushing his fingertips along his jaw.</p>
<p>The instant their skin made contact the pain was gone and Corpse appeared as normal. The shift was so sudden he wondered if he'd dreamt it. He was almost afraid to let go now, sliding his fingertips over the stubble on Corpse’s cheek, grounding himself on the faint prickle of it against his skin. What… What had that been just now?</p>
<p>Corpse woke and blinked at him. “Hey. Working the morning shift?”</p>
<p>Sykkuno’s mouth felt full of cotton. “N-No, the, the evening shift.”</p>
<p>“C’mere then.” He snuggled closer and Sykkuno was momentarily distracted when the memory of the previous night came rushing back to him. That’s right they had… they had… Corpse kissed him between the eyes and settled deeper into the pillow. “Let’s sleep a little more.”</p>
<p>“O-Okay…” Sykkuno bit his lip, aware that by agreeing he was taking the easy way out. He rested his face against Corpse’s neck and debated going back to sleep or asking anyway. Corpse was sleep-warm and he could feel his heartbeat. He was definitely here. He was definitely solid. “Um…”</p>
<p>“Sleep and then I’m gonna do all kinds of things to you when you’ve had more rest.” Sykkuno could <i>hear</i> the smile in Corpse’s voice. “Gotta make up for you falling asleep on me last night.”</p>
<p>Corpse was warm but now Sykkuno’s face was warmer. He did do that, didn’t he? “U-Um…!”</p>
<p>Sleep won out.</p>
<p>If he was able to, that is.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0009"><h2>9. Chapter 9</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>This chapter is rated 'T'</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Toast and Sean were arguing whether to add pumpkin spice cheesecake or pumpkin hand pies to the Halloween menu when the door to the cafe opened. Sykkuno, who had no opinion either way so long as they didn’t make him wear a mini skirt, looked up from his phone to greet the newcomers.</p>
<p>“Hey Lud, hey Peter, what can I get you?”</p>
<p>“I’ll have a latte,” Peter answered.</p>
<p>“Are you on the menu?” Ludwig waggled his eyebrows at Sykkuno.</p>
<p>“What?” Sykkuno paused in confusion. </p>
<p>“No,” Toast and Sean answered in near-unison.</p>
<p>“Oh, then I guess I’ll settle for a latte.”</p>
<p>“O…kay…” </p>
<p>Toast leaned way back in his chair and ignored Sean worrying that he might fall over to ask, “Hey Lud, Peter, pumpkin spice cheesecake or pumpkin hand pies?”</p>
<p>“Why are you even asking when you know what he’s going to say?” Peter answered dryly, pointing at his business partner.</p>
<p>“Yeah, the answer’s obvious, isn’t it?” Ludwig pulled out a chair and plopped himself down into it. “Pumpkin cheesecake hand pies.”</p>
<p>Toast squinted at him. “That’s…”</p>
<p>“...actually not a bad idea,” Sean finished his thought for him.</p>
<p>“We could freeze the cheesecake filling so it doesn’t melt too badly in the frying process, and maybe give a choice of spiced syrup for dipping if some basic bitches out there don’t like that it’s not pumpkin <i>spice</i> cheesecake…” Toast began making a list of ingredients he’d need.</p>
<p>“Maybe whipped cream or chocolate for a non-basic bitch option?” Sean suggested.</p>
<p>“Okay but not too many choices, this isn’t a crepe stand…”</p>
<p>Just as everyone collectively decided to leave Toast and Sean to their menu planning, the door opened again. None of the coffee shop staff recognized this new customer, but Ludwig and Peter waved her over. She set her bag on the empty seat and pointed at the counter.</p>
<p>“I should order over there?”</p>
<p>Peter looked back too, where Sykkuno was in the process of making his and Ludwig’s lattes. “Oh yeah, yeah we are supposed to order at the counter, aren’t we?”</p>
<p>“Yeah, we gave up a long time ago on expecting you two to follow the rules,” Sean snarked at him.</p>
<p>“What he said,” Toast added.</p>
<p>“Alright, alright, we’ll go pay at the counter,” Peter grumbled in good nature. Ludwig just laughed.</p>
<p>Sykkuno set the two finished lattes on the register side of the counter to save time and accepted Peter and Ludwig’s payment. He greeted their friend with, “Hi, just let me know when you’ve decided.”</p>
<p>“This is our friend Yvonne,” Peter introduced her. “Yvonne, this is Sykkuno.”</p>
<p>“Are Wendy and Miyoung coming too?” Ludwig asked once Yvonne and Sykkuno had exchanged pleasantries and she’d ordered a drink.</p>
<p>Yvonne drummed her fingers on the pick-up counter and nodded. “Yeah, they said they’d be a little late.”</p>
<p>“Get this, Sykkuno,” Ludwig leaned on the counter and looked around the espresso machine, “Yvonne and her friends’ shop is haunted!”</p>
<p>“Haunted?” Sykkuno furrowed his brow. “You mean like with a ghost?”</p>
<p>“We don’t actually know that for sure,” Yvonne tried to protest.</p>
<p>“No, I’ve seen it, there’s some real poltergeist shit going on there,” Ludwig insisted. He made animated hand gestures to illustrate, “books flying off the shelves, stuff going missing, lights flickering, the whole works.”</p>
<p>Peter gave a shrug. “I don’t know about all that, but the girls are definitely spooked.”</p>
<p>“It’s an old building, so I don’t know…” Yvonne sighed as she accepted her coffee. “Or it could be someone messing with us. Ghosts aren’t real are they?”</p>
<p>“I don’t… think so…” Sykkuno answered slowly. A year ago he would have been more sure of a ‘no’ answer, but...</p>
<p>With perfect timing, the very reason why Sykkuno was no longer sure walked in. “Hey Corpse.”</p>
<p>“Hey.” Corpse approached the counter.</p>
<p>Ludwig perked up. “Hey, yeah, perfect timing. So Corpse, tell us, as a fellow dead person, are ghosts real?”</p>
<p>Corpse stopped short, confused. “What?”</p>
<p>“That’s just his name you guys, he’s not actually a corpse,” Sean called across the room, making Sykkuno giggle.</p>
<p>Corpse looked between everyone. “Uhh…?”</p>
<p>Behind him, the door opened to admit two other women and the Corpse/corpse gag was dropped in favour of greeting the newcomers, who turned out to be Yvonne’s friends, business partners, and fellow haunting victims, Wendy and Miyoung. Corpse let them order first, and once they all had their coffees and had wandered back to pull tables together and create one big group with Peter, Ludwig, Yvonne, Toast, and Sean, he gave Sykkuno a questioning look.</p>
<p>Sykkuno lifted his shoulders. “Do you know if ghosts exist, Corpse?”</p>
<p>“I’ve never seen one. Most of what people think are ghostly encounters is just shadows spreading fear and uneasiness.” He curled both hands around his mug of tea and added, “or just their imaginations.”</p>
<p>“That makes sense.”</p>
<p>“You never know, though.”</p>
<p>“O-Oh…”</p>
<p>“Come sit with us, Corpse!” Peter called as Corpse turned away from the pick-up counter. He was echoed by enough people that Corpse would have felt awkward refusing.</p>
<p>He took the chair next to Toast and listened in.</p>
<p>Yvonne, Wendy, and Miyoung collectively ran a shop that sold new-and-used games and game-related merchandise, both official and fan-made. They had recently made plans to move into a larger space and that was when the problems started. They would come in at the start of the day to find all the lights on and all the merchandise on the floor, or items misplaced at odd points around the store, electronics would randomly stop working only to be perfectly fine anywhere from several minutes to several hours later, and other things like lights flickering or inexplicable cold spots.</p>
<p>Sykkuno stood rather than sat while he listened, slightly bent forward with his forearms resting on Corpse’s shoulders. He mentally went over this information from his perspective while the others discussed theories. The flickering lights were definitely something he’d experienced from shadows being around, but the rest didn’t seem to fit the profile. Maybe ghosts really did exist?</p>
<p>“Anyway,” Wendy was saying, “what all this has meant for us is we talked to the owner of the building the new space is in and convinced them to let us move in earlier. Only problem is we had to pay more money up front and now we can’t afford a moving service.”</p>
<p>Miyoung looked to Peter and Ludwig, “So we rented a truck, and were gonna ask if you guys wouldn’t mind helping us move. It’s a lot of stuff to pack, though.”</p>
<p>“We’d be happy to help,” Ludwig agreed easily. Peter nodded.</p>
<p>“If you need more people, we could help out,” Toast offered, glancing at Sean and Corpse. Both made noises of agreement. Toast leaned back in his chair and poked Sykkuno lightly in the side. “How ‘bout you, Sykkuno? Or are you still healing from your, uh, fall down the stairs?”</p>
<p>Technically he had fallen over the railing <i>next to</i> the flight of stairs straight to the floor below but no one other than Toast and Corpse needed to know that.</p>
<p>“Are we sure we want him to help out? He’s been such a klutz lately, there’s no telling how he might hurt himself,” Sean joked.</p>
<p>“I’m all better now,” Sykkuno protested, “I want to help out too!” He could feel Corpse’s shoulders shake under him as he laughed quietly to himself at how earnest he sounded.</p>
<p>Toast picked up his phone. “What day are you gonna start moving? I’ll see if Rae or Poki are free to help out, too.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>On moving day, Sykkuno, Toast, Rae, and Sean met Ludwig, Peter, Yvonne, Wendy, and Miyoung at the front of the old shop. The coffee shop crew came bearing coffees and Ludwig and Peter came bearing breakfast sandwiches, so one of the display tables was cleared and pulled out onto the sidewalk for them to stand around and munch in the morning air.</p>
<p>Miyoung spied the two extra take-out cups and sandwiches and asked, “Who are we missing?”</p>
<p>“Oh,” Sykkuno looked up and down the street, “Corpse said he was bringing a friend.”</p>
<p>“Brooke?” Toast guessed.</p>
<p>“Maybe, but he said to bring an extra tea and she usually drinks coffee…” Sykkuno trailed off as he spotted Corpse come around the corner with someone who was not Brooke. Sykkuno wasn’t even sure it was someone they could consider a friend.</p>
<p>“The hell?” he heard Toast mutter as he clearly noticed too.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Sykkuno, Rae, and Toast look about to murder me,” Karl whined, “I told you this was a bad idea.”</p>
<p>“Sykkuno would never,” Corpse said with easy confidence.</p>
<p>“Okay, you’re right, I was exaggerating. But Rae and Toast definitely would.”</p>
<p>“I won’t argue with that.” They joined the breakfast group and Corpse greeted them first with, “Hey.”</p>
<p>“Um…” Sykkuno looked between him and Karl, bewildered. “When you said you were bringing a friend…?”</p>
<p>Toast set down his sandwich and turned on his heel. “Karl, eat your sandwich, drink your tea,” he said sharply. “Corpse, Sykkuno, Rae, let’s… let’s have a little talk over here…” He herded the three of them a short distance away and dropped his voice. “What the hell, Corpse?”</p>
<p>“Y-Yeah,” Sykkuno worriedly added, albeit considerably more hesitant, “what the heck, Corpse?”</p>
<p>Rae crossed her arms and gave Corpse her best glare of disapproval. “This better be good, Corpse.”</p>
<p>“He’s not a bad guy,” Corpse shrugged.</p>
<p>“Not a bad guy?!” Rae sputtered. “After what he did you have the audacity to…!!”</p>
<p>Sykkuno furrowed his brow at him. “You’re forgiving him a lot easier than you forgave Dream.”</p>
<p>“Neither of them are bad guys, but Dream always seems like he has something up his sleeve and can’t be trusted. Karl is just a trickster, he can’t help how he is,” Corpse pointed out, as if this was going to make sense to the trio of supernatural newbies he was talking to.</p>
<p>“Doesn’t being a trickster by definition mean we can’t trust him either?!” Rae gestured emphatically back towards Karl.</p>
<p>Corpse shrugged and continued on as if this wasn’t a valid point, “Besides, if there is a spirit messing with those women, it could be another jester spirit.”</p>
<p>“Oh,” Sykkuno said.</p>
<p>Toast shook his head and turned back. “Alright then. I guess Karl would know what to do then...”</p>
<p>Rae just scoffed in disgust.</p>
<p>In the end, it was agreed that Karl would stay and they rejoined the group. Once the sandwiches were eaten and the coffees/teas drank, Miyoung, Wendy, and Yvonne divied up areas of the store to pack up, and everyone spread out, chatting and exchanging ghost stories as they worked. Corpse and Karl were assigned with packing assorted used console games into boxes together.</p>
<p>Karl nervously looked over his shoulder, well aware that Toast and Rae were eyeing him suspiciously all the while. “They really don’t like that you invited me here.”</p>
<p>“If they accepted me, they’ll accept you,” Corpse was unconcerned.</p>
<p>“I, uh… I don’t know that they would agree.” Karl added the last game cartridge to the box they had going and crouched down to tape it shut. “Pretty sure on the scale of ‘bad things done to Sykkuno’ I rank higher than you do in their eyes.”</p>
<p>Corpse went ‘hmm’ and moved to take the box to the pile of other completed ones by the door. He had lifted the box roughly knee-height when it suddenly clattered noisily to the floor.</p>
<p>Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked over curiously.</p>
<p>Karl quickly stepped in front of Corpse. “Sorry, sorry! I dropped it. My fault.”</p>
<p>“Did it land on anyone’s toes?” Sean called from across the store.</p>
<p>“No, all our toes are in one piece!”</p>
<p>“Carry on then!”</p>
<p>“Be careful!” Miyoung added.</p>
<p>Karl waited until everyone had gone back to what they were doing before he turned around. “What the hell, Corpse?!”</p>
<p>Corpse was slowly curling and uncurling his fingers. Between the eyepatch and the mask his face was unreadable, but Karl didn’t believe his, “My hands slipped, that’s all,” for a moment.</p>
<p>Karl dropped his voice to a whisper. “Don’t give me that. I know what I saw.”</p>
<p>Corpse looked up, and there was no mistaking the deadly seriousness in the gaze he fixated on Karl. “Don’t you dare say anything to Sykkuno.”</p>
<p>“What?! Why not?” Karl gestured wildly, putting his hands on his head and taking them away again, uncomprehending. “Wait, he really doesn’t know?! If anything, if, if any<i>one</i>, he should know. Seriously Corpse, how long has it been?!”</p>
<p>Corpse pulled his hands into fists briefly before bending down again and this time successfully picking up the box. “Don’t tell the others, either.”</p>
<p>Karl nervously looked between Corpse and Sykkuno, who was in the process of giving them a curious look while he brought a box of his own to the pile. Karl followed close on Corpse’s heels and kept his voice to a whisper. “Okay, I won’t but, but why am I being burdened with keeping this secret for you?”</p>
<p>“Punishment for being the first person to notice.”</p>
<p>Karl slowed and fell back a step. He winced. <i>Been awhile since you went home?</i> At the time he hadn’t meant it as anything but light teasing. He re-closed the distance between them and whispered, “How was I supposed to know you were keeping it a secret?!”</p>
<p>“You guys okay?” Sykkuno asked when they convened at the box pile.</p>
<p>“Yeah, sorry about that,” Corpse set down his box. “Anything weird happening where you are?”</p>
<p>Sykkuno shook his head. “Don’t think so…”</p>
<p>Corpse noticed him rubbing at his eye. “Something wrong?”</p>
<p>“Hm?” Sykkuno froze. “No, I, uh…” he rubbed at it a bit more, “maybe got some dust in it or something, that’s all.”</p>
<p>Corpse set his hand flat against Sykkuno’s cheek and brushed his thumb under his eye. As soon as he did so, the crease between Sykkuno’s eyebrows disappeared and the tension eased from his shoulders.</p>
<p>“Whatever it was, it’s gone now. I’m fine,” Sykkuno assured him quietly.</p>
<p>Karl looked between them, then shook his head and went back to the console game section.</p>
<p>Across the room, Yvonne stood up from taping a box of her own shut and brushed her hands on her jeans. “Do we want to break for lunch soon?”</p>
<p>Everyone agreed this seemed like a good idea and began discussing options.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>They all went for lunch at a local pizza place and came back roughly an hour later intending to spend the rest of the afternoon packing as much as they could. Miyoung unlocked the shop door and stepped in ahead of the group, then immediately stopped short with a surprised shout.</p>
<p>Everyone crowded around the door to look over her shoulder and her shout was echoed by many more. Others also expressed dismay and irritation.</p>
<p>Every box had been ripped open, the contents of some spilling out and covering the floor. The shop had been locked and there was no back entrance. It appeared, for all intents and purposes, that the mysterious poltergeist activity was real. It definitely wasn’t anyone’s imagination, in any case. That much was certain.</p>
<p>Sykkuno, Corpse, and Karl hung back as everyone begrudgingly began cleaning up and putting things back in boxes.</p>
<p>“This doesn’t look like something shadows would do…” Corpse mulled over the problem.</p>
<p>“Yeah… it could be a jester but it’s no fun if we’re not around to gloat,” Karl casually stated the low-key most unnerving fact Sykkuno had heard in recent memory. He chose to ignore addressing it instead to ask,</p>
<p>“What could it be?”</p>
<p>He was answered by two blank looks.</p>
<p>“I have no idea,” Corpse said.</p>
<p>“Maybe it is a ghost?” Karl surmised unhelpfully.</p>
<p>“What’re you standing around for? Get to work,” Toast grumbled in good nature.</p>
<p>Wendy was already at the games section when Corpse and Karl moved to resume packing there. “I’ll take over here, guys. Can you and maybe Sykkuno too go start on the back room? A lot of it is stock that’s already in boxes and just needs to be moved to the front anyway.”</p>
<p>On the way to fulfilling this new mission, Rae called over to ask for Corpse’s help with something, so he broke off with the promise to join them in a moment. Sykkuno and Karl continued on to the back room, but not before Rae made sure to shoot Karl a cross look as if to remind him that she had her eye on him.</p>
<p>Karl wiped his palms on his jeans nervously. “Are, are you still mad at me, Sykkuno?”</p>
<p>“Hmm…” Sykkuno considered his answer as he turned on the light and contemplated where to start with moving stuff out of the back room. “I’m still not happy that you involved my friends,” he hedged around giving a direct yes or no answer.</p>
<p>“Your friends definitely still are,” Karl took it upon himself to start taking boxes and things down from the top shelves. “Mad, I mean.”</p>
<p>“Well,” Sykkuno said reasonably, “they’re not irrational people. If you’re sincere about wanting them to… maybe not forgive you exactly but stop being angry with you, do your best to show that you’re sorry and maybe they’ll get over it eventually.” He stopped stacking boxes by the door to the main room and furrowed his brow. “Does it seem colder in here to you?”</p>
<p>“Uhh…” Karl looked around too. “Kinda, yeah.”</p>
<p>Suddenly the door slammed shut behind Sykkuno and the lights went out. Sykkuno squeaked in surprise while Karl gasped and went, ‘oh god!’ before laughing nervously.</p>
<p>“Sykkuno? Karl?” Rae could be heard knocking on the door. “What’re you guys doing in there? Why can’t… Why can’t I open the door?”</p>
<p>“Rae?” Sykkuno turned and tried the door from the inside, but it remained firmly shut. He knocked back and raised his voice, “It’s stuck!”</p>
<p>“Karl, I swear, if you have anything to do with this…!” Rae threatened.</p>
<p>“I didn’t do anything!” Karl protested, and the tremulous edge of panic to his voice made Sykkuno believe him. If anything, Sykkuno had been closer to the door so it couldn’t have been Karl who slammed it shut.</p>
<p>“Hold on, Wendy and Miyoung went to get the truck and they have the key to this door. Yvonne’s calling them now.” Rae’s voice grew distant, then came back for one final, “Just, hang on okay? I’m warning you, Karl!”</p>
<p>“I won’t do anything!” Karl cried.</p>
<p>“Geez, Rae, what did Karl ever do to you?” Ludwig could be heard laughing incredulously.</p>
<p>Sykkuno looked back in the general direction where he could sense Karl was in the dark. He squeezed his eyes shut and blinked a few times to no avail. He wished he had better control over his ability to sometimes see better.</p>
<p>For his part, Karl was thankful that he couldn’t see very well, because from his point of view, Sykkuno screwing up his face trying to see was so cute it was making him blush. He laughed again nervously. “Guess we’re stuck in here.”</p>
<p>“Looks like it.”</p>
<p>Karl fidgeted. He shouldn’t say anything. He promised, but at the same time it didn’t sit right with him. “Hey, uh, Sykkuno…?”</p>
<p>“Yeah?”</p>
<p>There was a rustling noise deep in the room behind Karl before he could work up the courage and he squeaked. “What was that?!”</p>
<p>“Hmm…” Sykkuno took two steps forward and they nearly bumped into each other. He and Karl mutually put a hand on each other’s shoulder to help Sykkuno keep track of where they stood. “They said this was an old building, so it could be a rat or a cockroach or something.”</p>
<p>“I dunno if I want to be locked in here with either of those.”</p>
<p>“Me neither.”</p>
<p>“Could it also be a ghost?”</p>
<p>“I suppose, if ghosts exist, that is…” Sykkuno patted his pockets and discovered he did indeed have his phone on him. He turned on the flashlight function and shone it around the room. It wasn’t a very big back room, maybe about a third of the size of the coffee shop’s, but it was packed with shelves and shelves of boxes and other stuff. Plenty of places for rats and roaches and ghosts to hide. He took a cautious step forward. “Let’s check it out.”</p>
<p>“Are you sure that’s a good idea?”</p>
<p>“Uh… I have my knife to defend us if it’s a ghost?”</p>
<p>“Do knives hurt ghosts?”</p>
<p>“Hm. Probably not.”</p>
<p>“Let me go first,” Karl squared his shoulders and stood straighter. “If anything happens to you then Rae, Corpse, and Toast will definitely kill me this time.”</p>
<p>Sykkuno’s mind was just starting to wander, puzzling over whether placing Rae first in the list of his friends to be afraid of was a fair assessment or if it was really more of a three-way tie for first place when there was another rustling noise and both he and Karl raised their voices in surprise again. After a brief pause to collect their wits, they pressed forward again. It was definitely coldest at the back wall, where the metal racks were almost painful to touch. The light on Sykkuno’s phone flickered and died.</p>
<p>Sykkuno hit the power button, only for the low battery icon to flash briefly on the screen before it died completely. “Oops.” Back to squinting around in the dark. He pocketed his phone and asked, “How much can you see?”</p>
<p>“Not as much as Corpse or Dream or Brooke with their masks on, but better than you can,” Karl answered. He stiffened and grabbed onto Sykkuno’s arm. “Wait, there’s something over there.”</p>
<p>“Where?”</p>
<p>“Um, here, this way…” Karl guided Sykkuno carefully to the left, then crouched and began moving some of the boxes of stock out of the way. He gave a soft gasp. “Oh… Oh wow, okay… I see…”</p>
<p>“What?”</p>
<p>“Come here…” Karl reached for his hand, thought better of it, and put his hand on Sykkuno’s forearm to guide him closer. “You might be able to see.”</p>
<p>Sykkuno crouched down next to him and peered forward. Gradually, his eyes picked up on something, only faintly at first. There was definitely something in the corner, a hazy, silvery wisp of a something. It reminded him of fog seen at the very earliest hint of pre-dawn. “What is it?”</p>
<p>“I think… yeah, yeah, there’s an elemental in here.”</p>
<p>“What’s that?”</p>
<p>“Um… like a baby spirit? When this little guy gets stronger, they’ll decide what kind of spirit they become, ocean, wind, star... They might even become a jester like me.” Karl held out his hand and coaxed the elemental out of the corner.</p>
<p>“What’re they doing in here?” Sykkuno asked, still focused on trying to see the elemental better.</p>
<p>“Elementals need to be around human emotions to grow so… they might have been drawn to the friendship between the girls running this place…” Karl gave a little gasp as the truth occurred to him. “Probably all the crazy stuff is happening because they think the girls are abandoning them.”</p>
<p>“Oh,” Sykkuno thought this made sense. Or, at the very least, it didn’t <i>not</i> make sense. To the general direction of the elemental, he made an attempt at sounding reassuring. “They probably don’t know you’re here, but if they did, I’m sure they’d take you with them to the new place. I hear the new place is bigger, so there’s probably more room for you to, to grow…so…”</p>
<p>“Nah,” Karl stood back up. “It’s not good for them to get so attached to specific humans. Take it from someone who knows, a little guy like this who already kind of acts like a trickster? You never know when they might get carried away and put someone in danger.”</p>
<p>Sykkuno opened his mouth to say something, but thought better of it. He straightened up and held out his hands. “Can I hold them?”</p>
<p>The elemental shifted of their own volition and, again in a way that reminded Sykkuno of fog, drifted from Karl’s hands to his own. He giggled as it tickled slightly. “They’re so cold! But the feeling also kind of reminds me of when I held some of Dream’s starlight.”</p>
<p>“Makes sense, since light is our true form.”</p>
<p>Oh, that’s right. He was so used to seeing Corpse and the others in their human forms… His smile faltered momentarily. But before he could dwell too much on it, Sean’s voice reached them from the other side of the door.</p>
<p>“Sykkuno? Karl?” he shouted, “You okay in there? Wendy’s here with the key, and we got a crowbar in case we need to pry the door open.”</p>
<p>“We’re fine!” Sykkuno nearly tripped stepping around the boxes Karl had moved to cross the room and call back. He then looked back down at the little wisp of chilly fog in his hands and asked. “Hey, can you please open the door for us? I promise no one’s mad at you or anything.”</p>
<p>“He’s right,” Karl added in support.</p>
<p>The elemental seemed to glow brighter for a moment, and then suddenly the room was filled with a great gust of wind that rushed past their ears to blow not just the door to the back room open, but also the main door to the shop. Sean and Wendy, who had been closest to the door, were knocked off their feet, and Rae, Toast, Yvonne, and Miyoung raised their voices in surprise. Corpse looked a little shocked but kept it mostly to himself. Sykkuno and Karl were left standing, windblown with their hair sticking up and their clothes in disarray, side by side in awkward silence.</p>
<p>“What the hell was that?!” Sean demanded. His question was echoed by several others.</p>
<p>“Uhh…” Sykkuno exchanged a grin with Karl and shrugged. “I guess it was the ghost!”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The rest of the move from the old shop to the new one went much more smoothly, with no further poltergeist incidents. The little elemental seemed to have taken Karl’s advice to heart and struck out on their own.</p>
<p>All in all, the whole move took two days, and everyone celebrated its completion at a local pub. The coffee shop crew plus Corpse and Karl sat around one table, while Ludwig, Peter, Yvonne, Wendy, and Miyoung occupied another. They waited until Sean social-butterflied over to the other group before putting their heads together to discuss what happened in the back room.</p>
<p>Rae and Toast squinted at Karl after hearing his advice for the little elemental. He shrank away from them with a hesitant, “Uh…?”</p>
<p>“I guess you aren’t so bad after all,” Toast said.</p>
<p>“We still don’t trust you, though,” Rae added.</p>
<p>“Guys, I think you don’t have to worry,” Sykkuno laughed. “I, I can take care of myself…”</p>
<p>“Shut up, Sykkuno,” Toast shushed him. No one at the table believed that sentiment for a second.</p>
<p>“Yeah, shut up, Sykkuno,” Rae pointed at him in warning..</p>
<p>“Yeah, shut up, Sykkuno,” Corpse joined in.</p>
<p>“Corpse?!”</p>
<p>Corpse chuckled to himself.</p>
<p>Rae took a potato chip from the basket they were sharing and threw it at him. “He’s making fun of us.”</p>
<p>“Wait, wait a second,” Toast pointed between Corpse and Karl. “Does this mean… that you two… were once little fog clouds?”</p>
<p>“Uh-huh,” Karl answered readily.</p>
<p>Sykkuno put a hand to his chin and thought about this, as it hadn’t occurred to him. He looked to Corpse. Corpse raised his eyebrows and nodded before taking a sip of his beer.</p>
<p>“You, Corpse? You were a cute little fog cloud once? How did something like that grow into… well…<i>you</i>?” Toast waved his hands at Corpse as if his appearance spoke for itself.</p>
<p>Corpse set down his bottle with a soft clunk. “All right, Toast, let’s see <i>your</i> baby pictures then.”</p>
<p>“Anytime! I was a cute baby. The cutest baby you ever did see!”</p>
<p>“He’s right, I’ve seen the pictures,” Sykkuno nodded along. “He was very cute.”</p>
<p>Corpse eyed him in mock umbrage. “Who’s side are you on?”</p>
<p>Sykkuno played along, making a strangled sound as if he’d been caught by surprise before his hand flew to his mouth and he broke down laughing. “Guys, guys, you were all cute! You were all cute.” He cleared his throat and reached for his drink. “Probably.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0010"><h2>10. Chapter 10</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>This chapter is rated 'T'.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Can you wear those tonight?”</p>
<p>“For what?”</p>
<p>Corpse choked on his response to this question. He gave a flustered cough and ran a hand over the back of his neck before giving up entirely. “I’ll uh, you’ll uh… you’ll just have to wait and find out…”</p>
<p>Sykkuno looked over from the mirror where he was adjusting his hair around a pair of cat ears and furrowed his brow at him. “Okay… I think everyone was talking about going out in costume after work anyway?”</p>
<p>He still didn’t get it.</p>
<p>Corpse pretended to be busy searching the shelves at the very back of the coffee shop back room and considered the fun that could be had in spelling it out for him later. “Where’s the box of Halloween decorations? Toast said there should be some left over from last year.”</p>
<p>Sykkuno finished with his hair and joined him in searching, which was distracting. Sykkuno in his usual casual wear was cute, but Sykkuno in a black button-up shirt and vest with a dark green necktie, black trousers, his hair styled more carefully than usual, and for some bizarre and genius reason <i>eyeliner</i> at Rae’s insistence, was downright handsome. Plus the cat ears, the cat ears were important.</p>
<p>Actually everyone looked good, all wearing different variations of the same cat-ears-and-semi-formal ensemble. The only variation was the cat ears were all styled slightly differently, and everyone wore a different coloured necktie: dark red for Rae, light blue for Toast, moss green for Sean, mauve for Poki, and purple for Corpse, who had been bullied into participating after all. Tina and Ash were also taking part, though Corpse hadn’t seen them yet. Apparently Tina’s necktie was orange while Ash’s was yellow.</p>
<p>“Here it is.” Sykkuno took down a nondescript box and set it on one of the shelves lower down to make sure. The box opened to reveal a jack o’lantern decoration and some cheap dollar-store black and orange garlands, confirming it to be the right one. Sykkuno poked around some more, then made a strangled panic noise. He whipped out what looked to be a handful of black and white fabric and shoved it between two bags of coffee beans.</p>
<p>“What’s that?” Corpse tried to reach around him.</p>
<p>Sykkuno hopped in the way and hurriedly said, “Nothing! Nothing!”</p>
<p>Corpse reached around the other way. “Didn’t look like nothing.”</p>
<p>“It’s nothing!”</p>
<p>“Doesn’t sound like nothing.”</p>
<p>“It’s nothing, Corpse, it’s nothing! We should, we should take this stuff to the front…” Sykkuno grabbed the box and tried to use it to herd Corpse out of the back room. The more he blushed the more Corpse <i>had</i> to know.</p>
<p>Sean poked his head in. “What’re you two doing back there?”</p>
<p>“We found the Halloween decorations,” Sykkuno turned to tell him, which gave Corpse the opening he needed. He snatched the mystery fabric out from where Sykkuno had hidden it with a triumphant ‘ha!’. Sykkuno raised his voice in protest.</p>
<p>Sean shook his head at their antics. “Quit messing around and come put those up, then.”</p>
<p>“Coming,” Sykkuno made a hasty exit after him.</p>
<p>Corpse unfolded his prize, finding it to be a cheap polyester mockup of a frilly maid costume. The skirt was awfully short. As with most cheap Halloween costumes, it barely qualified as a skirt. He set it high up on the shelves for later consideration and followed Sykkuno and Sean out to the main area of the shop. It was already almost time to open, so he was quickly directed to help Sykkuno, Sean, and Poki with decorating while Rae fussed over making Toast sit still long enough for her to do his eyeliner too.</p>
<p>“Can’t I just do it myself?”</p>
<p>“No, you’re too heavy-handed. We want you to look sexy, not like a panda.”</p>
<p>“Are you saying pandas can’t be sexy?”</p>
<p>“Sit still, damn you.”</p>
<p>“Hey, can you use that eyeliner to draw me a moustache too?”</p>
<p>“Don’t make me hurt you, Toast.”</p>
<p>“Who knew eyeliner was such serious business?” Sean laughed. “I think Corpse and Poki are the only ones she let do it themselves.”</p>
<p>“They’re the only ones I could trust!” Rae declared.</p>
<p>“That’s probably true,” Sean agreed.</p>
<p>They were behind schedule, so decorations were still being put up when it came time for the shop to open. None of the customers seemed to mind, though, with everyone complementing them on their costume choice for the year. Plenty of regulars stopped in, and the collaboration with Tina and Ash’s cat cafe also drew in customers so the morning was quite busy. As it turned out, strong-arming Corpse into helping out hadn’t just been for show, they really needed the help.</p>
<p>“Are you doing okay?” Sykkuno asked, looking worried as they passed each other at one point.</p>
<p>“Yeah,” Corpse answered. He was a little shaky from being around so many people at once but it was manageable. He wasn’t entirely surprised, but still grateful that Sykkuno had noticed.</p>
<p>“Your ears are kinda crooked, here.” Sykkuno reached up to fix them for him. For a moment his hand lingered and his eyes took on a faraway, unfocused look.</p>
<p>Corpse looked closer curiously. “Sykkuno?”</p>
<p>Sykkuno snapped back to reality with a hard blink and a little shake of his head. He leaned forward with a sly grin and dropped his voice to a whisper, “Maybe you should wear yours tonight too.”</p>
<p>For the second time that morning Corpse choked on his response, this time in complete surprise. Sykkuno had not only caught on to what he’d meant but turned it against him. This meant war.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The evening shift was left to the two part-timers, who also wore cat-ear costumes. When it came time to switch, the morning crew met up with Tina and Ash with plans to check out a haunted house that had been set up nearby. Apparently Ludwig and Peter were already there with Yvonne, Wendy, and Miyoung, so it looked like the evening was going to involve a lot of people.</p>
<p>Sykkuno and Corpse hung back to walk behind everyone. Sykkuno’s hand found Corpse’s, curling his fingertips into his palm like a question for Corpse to answer, which he did, lacing their fingers together and squeezing lightly.</p>
<p>“We should have invited Brooke,” Sykkuno said.</p>
<p>Rae heard him and turned to walk backwards and say, “I think she mentioned she’d be around.” </p>
<p>“Oh good, I hope we run into her.”</p>
<p>Rae noted their linked hands and smiled as she turned back around.</p>
<p>Corpse relaxed his grip, meaning to let go, but Sykkuno held fast. Expecting him to be smiling, Corpse glanced his way with the intent to maybe get revenge for the cat ear comment earlier. Instead he slowed his steps in surprise, and it was not a pleasant surprise this time. Sykkuno’s eyes were downcast and looking to the side away from him. His expression was contemplative and… a little sad.</p>
<p>“What’s the matter?”</p>
<p>“Nothing,” Sykkuno lied.</p>
<p>Corpse could only reaffirm his grip on his hand because, aside from when he was joking around or being silly, Sykkuno always told the truth. Whatever it was that had prompted this uncharacteristic shift, he would have to wait for Sykkuno to tell him in his own time.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>They were almost at the haunted house and he knew once Sean or Ludwig or some other people who were not Rae noticed they’d never hear the end of it, so it was almost time to let go of Corpse’s hand. Sykkuno ventured a glance upwards. Corpse was outlined in the light from the shops and street lamps. His natural presence always made him seem so much taller, even though there wasn’t actually that much significant difference between them, and he was somehow still handsome even with three-quarters of his face obscured. Sykkuno couldn’t wait until they got home, when he had him to himself and could see and feel his lips and put his arms around him and reassure himself of how solid and strong and <i>here</i> he was.</p>
<p>Corpse didn’t know he’d noticed yet.</p>
<p>Maybe Corpse didn’t always notice it himself.</p>
<p>Every time he tried to ask, Sykkuno just couldn’t find the words. So he reassured himself by touch whenever the opportunity presented itself and waited for Corpse to tell him in his own time.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The haunted house had been set up by some local college students to raise money for charity. As the coffee shop crew approached, they searched for Ludwig, Peter, Yvonne, Wendy, and Miyoung, and ran into Leslie and Edison on the way before they eventually found them. The last to join was Brooke, just as they were getting in line.</p>
<p>Once they reached the entrance and made a donation for entry, the group was first split into two groups, then admitted to a pitch-black room where ghouls adorned in glow sticks quickly divided them further into random pairs and shoved them (gently but firmly) through separate doors.</p>
<p>Sykkuno stumbled slightly and blinked as his eyes adjusted to the dim light of the school hallway he found himself in. The general idea of how the haunted house experience was going to start had been explained to them at the onset but it was still disconcerting just a bit. He looked around to see who his partner had ended up being. “Oh, hi Brooke.”</p>
<p>Brooke smiled and adjusted the hat for her witch costume. “Wanna see if we can beat everyone else out, Sykkuno?”</p>
<p>“Yeah, yeah, let’s speedrun it,” Sykkuno agreed eagerly.</p>
<p>They set off giggling down the hall.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Corpse looked at Sean.</p>
<p>Sean looked at Corpse.</p>
<p>A beat passed between them before Sean went, “eek!!” and clung dramatically to his arm. “I’m so scared! Please protect me, Mr. Corpse!”</p>
<p>By this point in time, Corpse was used to Sean’s antics. He patted the top of his head. “There, there, I’ll protect you.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Having been ejected at the bottom of the stairs leading to the second floor of the school building, Toast took two steps and looked back over his shoulder at his partner.</p>
<p>“Wait, Poki, you go first. I’m counting on you to protect me.”</p>
<p>Poki scoffed. “Excuse me? Hell no, I’m counting on you to protect me.”</p>
<p>Toast almost came up with a counterpoint, but then he remembered that Poki had forgotten all about her part in the ‘beating Sykkuno with a plastic pole in the middle of a museum at night’ incident and bit his tongue. “Let’s uh, let’s protect each other. Come on, Poki! What are friends for?”</p>
<p>“That seems pretty sus,” Poki teased him. “How do I know you won’t abandon me at the first sign of trouble?”</p>
<p>“I would <i>never</i>!” Toast put a hand on his heart and turned to climb the stairs.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Rae’s jaw dropped in surprise, then her brow furrowed in a mix of indignation, anger, and confusion. Of all the people, her partner for going through the dark, scary, haunted house was…</p>
<p>“<i>Karl?!</i> What the heck? You weren’t even in our group!!”</p>
<p>Karl grimaced. “This is awkward.”</p>
<p>“Actually this whole setup seems kind of familiar, doesn’t it?”</p>
<p>“What’re you talking about? My scenario was way--” Karl saw Rae narrow her eyes at him and quickly retracted his unspoken statement, “way worse. Really awful. Totally not at all comparable.”</p>
<p>“I swear to god, if you’re up to something…”</p>
<p>“I’m not, I swear! I just thought…”</p>
<p>Rae’s shoulders slumped and she rolled her eyes, already anticipating what he was going to say, “You thought it sounded like fun and wanted to go through the haunted house with Corpse and Sykkuno, didn’t you? Is that it?”</p>
<p>“Are you a mind reader?”</p>
<p>“Your sneaky smile friend isn’t with you, is he?”</p>
<p>“Dream? No.” Karl paused, confused. “How do you know he’s--”</p>
<p>“Or your creepy crawly copy-happy shadow friends?”</p>
<p>“We don’t really hang anymore.”</p>
<p>Rae drew up to her full height and stared him down. Karl was taller but Rae was still more intimidating. “Well, all right then, let’s go.”</p>
<p>Karl grinned. “Y-Yeah, let’s go!”</p>
<p>“But I’m <i>watching</i> you, Karl.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The haunted house was set up in such a way that there were four routes that converged on a point at the opposite side of the building where participants had to take a ‘ghost photograph’, then safely make it back to the entrance. Pairs were staggered but still periodically passed each other on the way. Sykkuno and Brooke passed a random couple on their way to the photograph point, and on their way back, encountered Miyoung and Wendy in one of the dim corridors.</p>
<p>“Hey, guys. Is it really scary?” Miyoung asked.</p>
<p>“Not really,” Brooke answered the same time as Sykkuno said,</p>
<p>“A little.”</p>
<p>Miyoung giggled, “Very helpful.” She looked to Wendy with a smile, but shrugged and turned back when Wendy didn’t give much of a response. “Well, she’s scared in any case.”</p>
<p>“As long as you have each other, you should be fine, right?” Sykkuno offered helpfully</p>
<p>“Haha, yeah.”</p>
<p>Something prickled at the back of Sykkuno’s neck and he noticed Wendy staring at him. “Um…?”</p>
<p>“Nothing,” she turned away.</p>
<p>“What was that all about?” Brooke asked.</p>
<p>Sykkuno just shrugged.</p>
<p>The two pairs continued on their respective ways. There were a few tense patches and some costume-clad students got a good scare in on Sykkuno and Brooke towards the end, but in short time they passed giggling through the exit to find that the Toast and Poki and Corpse and Sean pairs had beaten them out.</p>
<p>“Rae’s not out yet?” Sykkuno looked around. “Who was she partnered with?”</p>
<p>The other four exchanged blank looks. No one had crossed paths with her, so it was a mystery still.</p>
<p>“Guys, guys, listen to this,” Sean declared, and Toast and Poki immediately started laughing, clearly having heard the story already. “So we’re at the first jump scare right? This student jumps out all covered in fake blood screaming at us, typical haunted house stuff, and this guy,” he pointed at Corpse, “<i>this guy</i> starts going ‘okay, okay, okay’ and just <i>leaves me</i>. He starts walking away and just <i>abandons</i> me to my fate…”</p>
<p>Brooke burst out in incredulous laughter. “Corpse?”</p>
<p>“It- they, they caught me off guard,” Corpse protested quietly, sounding embarrassed.</p>
<p>Sykkuno thought back to the time they tried playing a horror game together. “Oh yeah… he doesn’t handle jump scares very well.” Which was funny, for multiple reasons.</p>
<p>“Like you’re one to talk,” Brooke teased him.</p>
<p>“I don’t know what you’re talking about Brooke, I was cool as a cucumber all the way through that haunted house.”</p>
<p>“Sure you were, Sykkuno.”</p>
<p>“I thought I recognized that voice. Hi Sykkuno, long time no see. Oh, and Corpse is here too.”</p>
<p>Sykkuno turned around and blinked in surprise. “Hi 5up.” He looked around. “Is Hafu with you?”</p>
<p>“She’s probably already inside.”</p>
<p>“Did she leave you in some kind of death trap or something so she could get here first?” Sykkuno asked lightly, meaning it to be a joke.</p>
<p>“Not this time,” 5up answered darkly. He flipped up the astronaut helmet visor and narrowed his eyes. “You don’t want to know.”</p>
<p>Sykkuno didn’t want to know.</p>
<p>5up flipped the visor back down and immediately the dark tone left his voice. “Anyway, nice seeing you again.” He dashed up the steps and into the haunted house.</p>
<p>“Interesting costume,” commented Sean.</p>
<p>Sykkuno and Corpse exchanged a look. Did… 5up just go… into the haunted house some of their friends hadn’t come out of yet? Sykkuno fidgeted. Corpse shook his head subtly. It wasn’t their problem. This time for sure, they were staying out of whatever trouble 5up and Hafu were getting into.</p>
<p>No sooner had 5up disappeared inside than Yvonne and Wendy came out.</p>
<p>“Hey guys,” Yvonne hopped down the last step. “Did you take the basement route? It was pretty scary around the old boiler room.”</p>
<p>“Yeah, Yvonne nearly punched one of the ghosts,” Wendy laughed. “Which was good because I got really nauseous for some reason down there. I thought I was going to puke on the poor kids running this.”</p>
<p>“Wait…” Sykkuno frowned and glanced in Brooke’s direction. “Wendy, I thought you were with Miyoung.”</p>
<p>“Huh? No, I was paired with Yvonne.”</p>
<p>“But… we passed you and Miyoung on the first floor route.” Sykkuno looked from Brooke to Wendy and back again.</p>
<p>“Sure you didn’t see Miyoung with someone else? Because I’ve been with Yvonne this whole time.”</p>
<p>“Maybe Miyoung is with Rae?” Poki suggested.</p>
<p>“Even in the dark, I don’t think Sykkuno would mistake Rae for Wendy,” Toast shook his head.</p>
<p>Wait. A potential for two Wendies, and <i>5up</i> had just run inside. Plus Hafu was supposedly already inside. The other Wendy must be an imposter!</p>
<p>Sykkuno turned and ran up the stairs.</p>
<p>“Sykkuno!” Corpse dashed after him. Brooke followed with an exasperated sigh.</p>
<p>Yvonne and Wendy watched them go, then turned back to Sean, Poki, and Toast. “What was that all about?”</p>
<p>“Never mind them, let’s go save everyone a table at the beer garden,” Toast shook his head and turned to go. Once he was sure everyone was on their way, he paused and looked back, only then allowing himself a worried crease between his eyebrows. For not the first time since everything came to light, thought of that old adage, <i>ignorance is bliss</i>. It bothered him greatly that he had no way to help, but what could he do?</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Sykkuno ran back inside and stopped at the first junction, where the different routes through the haunted house converged. One of the costumed students mildly commented that he shouldn’t be coming in that way but otherwise left him alone.</p>
<p>Corpse and Brooke joined him. </p>
<p>"Sykkuno wait," Corpse took him by the arm and moved closer. He looked pale.</p>
<p>Sykkuno held his breath. Was Corpse finally going to tell him what was wrong? Now, though?</p>
<p>Whether that was or wasn't his intention, the timing ultimately wasn't right.</p>
<p>If anything because who should burst noisily out from one of the doors but…</p>
<p>“Oh! Hey guys.”</p>
<p>“There you are Rae and…” Sykkuno’s voice rose in surprise, “Karl?!”</p>
<p>Rae shoved Karl towards them. “Sykkuno, can you please do something about your stalker?”</p>
<p>“Hi Sykkuno, hi Corpse,” Karl greeted them with a big grin.</p>
<p>“Don’t you act all cute and go ‘hi Sykkuno, hi Corpse’,” Rae berated him, “<i>honestly…!</i>”</p>
<p>“Hey, we had fun, didn’t we?” Karl kept on grinning.</p>
<p>Rae made a face and begrudgingly admitted, “Yeah, we did.”</p>
<p>“Everyone’s waiting outside,” Brooke pointed to the exit. She gave Karl a meaningful look. “You guys go ahead.”</p>
<p>Karl squinted, then dropped his arm around Rae’s shoulders. “Let’s go Rae, I’ll buy you a drink!”</p>
<p>“Wait, what are you guys…?” Rae was led outside before she could finish asking.</p>
<p>Brooke pointed out which door she and Sykkuno had come through before Corpse could go on, and they headed that way, retracing the route Sykkuno and Brooke had taken in the hopes of finding Miyoung and Imposter Wendy.</p>
<p>“Wait, how do we know the Wendy still inside here is the imposter?” Brooke asked.</p>
<p>“Because 5up didn’t pay the other Wendy, the Wendy outside, any attention,” Sykkuno explained. “I’m betting on the likelihood that he would have noticed, um, somehow. Also she mentioned feeling sick.”</p>
<p>“Makes sense,” Corpse agreed.</p>
<p>“That’s true. The Wendy we passed was pretty quiet, too,” Brooke added.</p>
<p>They rounded a corner, ready for battle, only to come across 5up, Hafu, and Miyoung standing in the middle of a disused classroom talking to two of the students running the haunted house.</p>
<p>“Oh hey guys,” Hafu greeted them, “5up said he saw you on his way in.”</p>
<p>“Hi,” Sykkuno raised his hand in greeting. “Wait, how do we know you’re the real Hafu?”</p>
<p>“Umm… you don’t!” she answered with a cheeky smile.</p>
<p>Miyoung ignored this exchange to turn around and worriedly tell them, “Guys, did you see Wendy anywhere? We got separated and no one can find her.”</p>
<p>“Uh,” Sykkuno realized at this point that, for better or worse, they had missed out on all the action.</p>
<p>“She’s outside with the others,” Brooke answered for him. She put an arm around Miyoung’s shoulders and began leading her back out the classroom. “Who do you think will be the last pair to make it through?” She looked over her shoulder and mouthed <i>I’ll handle this,</i> to Sykkuno and Corpse.</p>
<p>The two students wandered off to return to scaring guests or other haunted house-related activities.</p>
<p>That left Corpse, Sykkuno, 5up, and Hafu to stand around and look at each other for a beat.</p>
<p>“Everything alright?” Corpse asked cautiously.</p>
<p>“Nothing to worry about here,” Hafu assured him, grinning.</p>
<p>“Yeah, it was no problem at all,” 5up agreed. He crossed his arms, “We <i>could</i> have resolved it before anyone got copied, but…”</p>
<p>“I said I was sorry about that,” Hafu waved his accusation aside. She didn’t sound sorry at all.</p>
<p>“Good to see you two haven’t changed,” Sykkuno laughed nervously, partially out of relief that this seemed to ensure it was really them, partially because he wasn’t sure how to react to the extent their antagonistic friendship went to.</p>
<p>“Everything taken care of?” Corpse put a hand at Sykkuno’s back, a clear sign that he wanted to go.</p>
<p>“More or less,” 5up answered. “We’ll do another once-over of the building to make sure, but it looks like the shadows were just attracted to the haunted house theme, not actually looking to move in or anything.”</p>
<p>“We’ll come with you,” Sykkuno said firmly, taking all three of the others by surprise.</p>
<p>“I don’t know if that’s…” 5up trailed off.</p>
<p>“The others are probably waiting for us,” Corpse also had misgivings. The fingers of the hand at Sykkuno's back flexed subtly.</p>
<p>Only Hafu seemed to be okay with it. “Well, this floor is clear so… Sykkuno and I will take the top floor, you two take the basement. It’ll be over in no time.” She linked arms with Sykkuno and started for the hall before either 5up or Corpse could protest. “I hear there’s a beer garden nearby. Last pair outside has to buy the other two drinks.”</p>
<p>The parting look Sykkuno gave Corpse was somehow both unreadable and not one to be argued against. He hung back, confused and trying to puzzle it out, until 5up clapped a hand on his shoulder.</p>
<p>“Don’t worry man, I’m sure Hafu won’t put him in <i>too much</i> danger. Not this time.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Sykkuno and Hafu climbed the stairs to the second floor of the building and began methodically making their way down the hall. They met a few students in costumes, who mistook them for patrons and tried to scare them, but no shadow creatures. Thankfully, this gave Sykkuno the opportunity to work up the courage he needed to ask.</p>
<p>However, he’d only just barely managed to get out the words, “Hafu, can, can I ask you something?” before she shook her head.</p>
<p>“You can, but I don’t think I have the answers you’re looking for, Sykkuno.”</p>
<p>“Huh?” He blinked in confusion. “How do you know what I want to ask?”</p>
<p>“I don’t, but I can guess.” She tilted her head to the side and lifted one shoulder, the curtain of her hair falling across the smile on her lips slightly.</p>
<p>“Sorry... if I made you feel uncomfortable.”</p>
<p>“You didn’t,” she giggled. “And anyway, I think our situations are too different for me to be of any help.”</p>
<p>“Oh,” he clued in on what she had assumed and assured her, “wait, no, that wasn’t my question.”</p>
<p>“It wasn’t?” Hafu looked at him closely. He’d taken her by surprise and some part of him considered that an accomplishment.</p>
<p>“I wanted to know… if you’ve ever seen 5up start to like… um, disappear… um, I, I, I guess… is the word? I’m afraid to ask Brooke or anyone else because, because… um...” Sykkuno’s throat went dry and he faltered. Maybe this was a bad idea. But he’d already started, so bad idea or not, he had to finish, “because he’s trying to keep it a secret and I want to respect that. But at the same time, I can’t… I can’t just… do nothing...”</p>
<p>“Disappear?” Hafu didn’t have to ask who he meant and kindly didn’t make him say it.</p>
<p>“Yeah, like he’s fading away. Not all the time, only… only sometimes, but…”</p>
<p>Hafu folded her arms and considered this. “I don’t… think I’ve seen that before...” Sykkuno was about to assure her not to worry about it in that case when she stopped walking and turned to face him. “But it definitely doesn’t sound good. How long has it been since you got that bit of the moon?”</p>
<p>“Um… since last spring?”</p>
<p>“And he’s been down here protecting you this whole time?”</p>
<p>“Wait, is that bad? I mean, I don’t think so…” Sykkuno furrowed his brow. “Not the whole time, but I don’t… really know much about... that…” He folded one hand at his chin and pondered this. “It’s not like I can walk him home like he does for me, you know?”</p>
<p>“Well,” Hafu stated matter-of-factly, “not me, because I’m awesome, but I do know 5up has to return to the sky periodically. It’s not good for star spirits to stay in their ‘human’ form too long, since their true form is starlight. Maybe it’s the same for the moon? You’d need to ask someone who knows better than I do, though.”</p>
<p>Sykkuno considered this. Who could he ask if not Hafu, though?</p>
<p>“Let me know what you find out too, I might be able to weaponize the knowledge against that silly pinkman sometime.”</p>
<p>Sykkuno laughed weakly. “I don’t know how I feel about being accessory to murder, Hafu.”</p>
<p>“I wouldn’t kill him!” Hafu protested. “Not permanently.”</p>
<p>They finished checking the second floor for shadows and headed downstairs to reconvene with 5up and Corpse. Sykkuno hadn’t received any of the answers he wanted, but he had acquired a lot to think about. As he and Hafu walked down the stairs to where the other two were waiting his mind was going over what he could recall from recent memory.</p>
<p>Ever since he’d woken up following the Imposter Dream incident, there had been frequent times when Corpse stayed the night at his place, naturally, in his not-moonlight form. He’d never even seen Corpse as ‘moonlight’, what was that like? Despite initially being amused by Sykkuno calling his returning to the sky ‘going home’ he hadn’t used that phrase in recent memory, it was always saying he would ‘go’ or ‘leave’ whenever he didn’t stay the night… and the disappearing always seemed to be when he was tired or sleeping.</p>
<p>Was Corpse not going home on the nights and during the day in the time they spent apart? And if so, where was he going?</p>
<p>Corpse’s hand found the small of his back again just as Sykkuno put his arm around his. “You alright?” he asked.</p>
<p>“We didn’t run into any more shadows,” Sykkuno answered, careful to keep his tone light. “Toast texted to say everyone’s already at the beer garden.”</p>
<p>“We should go join them before someone starts any weird drinking games.”</p>
<p>“Good idea. Hafu, 5up, do you wanna come too?”</p>
<p>“Yeah, that sounds like fun,” 5up agreed. “I believe you and I are owed drinks anyway, Corpse. Right, Hafu?”</p>
<p>“What’s that? I don’t recall you actually agreeing to that...” Hafu said, even as she led the way.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The group stayed at the beer garden until closing, talking and drinking and sure enough, playing silly games. While everyone started to disperse, Sykkuno and Corpse hung around on the sidewalk and made sure they were all safely on their way home. The people who needed ubers got their rides, Hafu and 5up disappeared on their own, and the others who lived in walking distance like Sykkuno meandered through the streets, slowly dropping off in ones and twos where their routes diverged.</p>
<p>When it was just Sykkuno and Corpse left, Sykkuno looked up to the sky. A crescent moon could be seen overhead. Was it waxing or waning at the moment? He couldn’t remember. Was that important? He had no idea…</p>
<p>He really… didn’t know anything, did he?</p>
<p>Sykkuno rubbed absently at his eye.</p>
<p>Corpse put an arm around his shoulders. “Tired?” he asked.</p>
<p>Sykkuno shook his head. “Not really. You?” He hesitated, then forced himself to test the waters with the question, “Going home tonight?”</p>
<p>Corpse’s voice rumbled as he played up considering his answer. “Hmm… it’s still early and I haven’t nearly enjoyed these as much as I want to.” He curled the arm around Sykkuno’s shoulders at the elbow to reach back and tap the cat ears. He caught Sykkuno’s gaze and his visible eye crinkled fondly. “In all seriousness, you look really good today, Sy.”</p>
<p>That wasn’t a definite yes or no answer to his question, and Sykkuno had no way of pressing the issue naturally. So instead he guiltily put addressing the problem off yet again. He wrapped an arm around Corpse’s waist and squeezed. “We’re wearing the same thing, so that means you look really good today too.”</p>
<p>Corpse chuckled. “You keep throwing my words back at me today.”</p>
<p>“It’s my new genius strategy.”</p>
<p>“Is that it?” They entered Sykkuno’s building and Corpse hit the elevator button. “Strategy for what?”</p>
<p>“I don’t know why I said that, I have no idea actually.”</p>
<p>He felt silly, but it made Corpse laugh, so Sykkuno considered it a win.</p>
<p>Once they were safely inside the apartment, Corpse pressed up behind him, one arm around his middle, the other slightly higher to take hold of the knot on his necktie. The possessiveness he felt from that small gesture gave him a little thrill and Sykkuno closed his eyes, letting himself be trapped. Corpse nibbled at the shell of his ear and growled, “Here kitty, kitty,” which made Sykkuno the one to burst out laughing this time.</p>
<p>“Corpse! You don’t really expect me to keep the cat ears on, do you?”</p>
<p>“You’re damn right I do. <i>Just</i> the cat ears.” He traced a feather-light touch across the back of Sykkuno’s neck and made him shiver. “Maybe the necktie too.”</p>
<p>“What?” Sykkuno breathlessly half-laughed. His vest was already unbuttoned. When did that happen?</p>
<p>Sykkuno turned around in Corpse’s arms to face him. Corpse ‘hmm’d and pulled him in by the necktie for a kiss, swiping his tongue through Sykkuno’s parted lips in a tantalizing preview of what was to come. “Yes, this definitely has potential.” He kept a loose grip on the knot and began unbuttoning Sykkuno’s shirt one-handed from the bottom up.</p>
<p>Sykkuno gave him a lopsided grin. “I don’t know what you mean, ‘potential’? Potential for what?”</p>
<p>Corpse wasn’t fooled. He was well aware that his own vest was nearly unbuttoned now as well. “I think you like playing innocent.”</p>
<p>A flicker of something pulled Sykkuno out of the moment for the barest of instants. It was clear in his eyes, enough that Corpse noticed, but then he wet his lips and it was gone just as quickly. One last time for the night, he threw Corpse’s words back at him, “I think you like it when I play innocent.”</p>
<p>Rather than dwell on that statement and the growing certainty that Sykkuno had noticed something was wrong, Corpse redirected his mind to the more pressing issue of divesting Sykkuno of his clothing. Except for the cat ears, of course. The cat ears stayed.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0011"><h2>11. Chapter 11</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Some very short NSFW towards the end of the chapter, it is as always marked with '***' on either side if you want to skip.<br/>Also fun fact, in the original planning stages this was supposed to be the final chapter. :'D</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The ache in his left eye had become persistent, a constant background to Sykkuno’s daily routine as time went on. It reached the point where sometimes, especially mornings after Corpse stayed the night, he could sense it coming and circumvent it, sidling up to Corpse for the physical contact that always seemed to quell it before the fading away became noticeable. In a way it reminded him of how Bimbus would stick to his side for comfort during thunderstorms. He knew he should say something but still he waited. Maybe like the thunderstorms this too would pass eventually…</p><p> </p><p>Rae noted Sykkuno frown and rub at his eye for not the first time that morning and asked, “What’s the matter?”</p><p>Sykkuno quickly took his hand away from his face and busied himself with putting the freshly washed mugs back on the shelf. “Just tired, I guess. My eye is uh, kind of sore.”</p><p>“Sykkuno, you’ve always been a night owl, and I know you have your other reasons now too, but…”</p><p>“I know,” he sighed and rubbed at his eye again. It ached, and he wondered if Corpse was okay. The promise to not keep secrets from Rae anymore crept into his thoughts, but before he could act on it, a group of customers came in and the opportunity was gone.</p><p>Later on in the day, she noticed him rubbing at it again and asked, “Are you sure you want to come out after work? Maybe you should go home and rest.”</p><p>“No, I wanna go. It sounds like fun.”</p><p>Rae looked skeptical. “Alright then, but don’t go running yourself into the ground, okay?”</p><p>“I’m fine,” Sykkuno tried to laugh it off. “Everyone worries too much about me. I’m… I think I’m stronger than people think I am sometimes.” Did that make sense? Did he say the word ‘think’ too many times? He wasn’t helping his own case very much.</p><p>Rae narrowed her eyes at him and crossed her arms. “Yeah? Well maybe we’re all just worried you’re letting your little moon-powered Knifekkuno magic go to your head, ever think about that?”</p><p>Sykkuno sputtered, flustered by this declaration. “I don’t know what you’re talking about!”</p><p>“Oh, don’t you? You’re an open book, Sykkuno. I know <i>exactly</i> what you’re thinking. You can’t hide anything from me!”</p><p>“That’s just not true! I bet there’s, uh, I bet there’s plenty of things you don’t know about me!”</p><p>“Nope, nothing. We practically share a brain, I know you so well.”</p><p>“That’s, that’s an invasion of my privacy Rae, you can’t share my brain without my permission!”</p><p>It was at this moment that Poki came in to prepare for her shift. She looked between them with a raised eyebrow and asked, “Uhh… what did I just walk into? Who’s sharing a brain now?”</p><p>“Sykkuno and me.”</p><p>“Oh, that’s nothing new.”</p><p> </p><p>Toast pocketed his phone and knocked on the door. He heard the faint skitter of Bimbus running across the floor, followed after some time by the deadbolt snapping back. The latch clicked and Corpse greeted him with a curious, “Hey.”</p><p>“Hey Corpse. Sykkuno said I’d find you here. Were you sleeping?” Toast crouched down and caught Bimbus before he could wriggle out between Corpse’s feet into the hall. “No Bimb, you’re not allowed out here, you silly goose.”</p><p>“Uh,” Corpse answered, still sounding curious, “not really, no. Was trying to, but… you know how sometimes you just can’t get your mind to shut off?”</p><p>“Yeah, that happens.” Toast somehow managed to gather Bimbus in his arms despite the little dog wriggling himself nearly inside out at the prospect of <i>more</i> company to play with that afternoon and straightened up. “Rae texted asking me to pick up snacks before tonight since she and Sykkuno get off work with barely any time to get there before the movies start, and I figured if you weren’t doing anything else…”</p><p>Corpse thought a moment, then pushed his hair back. “Ohh… was the drive-in movie thing tonight?”</p><p>“Yeah, didn’t Sykkuno remind you this morning?”</p><p>Corpse’s mouth twisted into a wry smile. “He overslept and had to run out of here before Rae killed him.”</p><p>Toast could picture it vividly. “Alright, well, how about it? Did you want to hang and buy snacks? You look pretty tired though, so if you want to stay here and go back to bed, that’s okay too.”</p><p>Corpse pushed the door open further to invite Toast in. “Nah, I’ll come. Let me just get ready.”</p><p>Toast entered and let Bimbus back down. He waited with his back against the door while Corpse washed his face, replaced his eyeliner and rings, and retrieved his hoodie from the bedroom to pull over his t-shirt. “I don’t mean to pry,” Toast said mildly as he put on his shoes, “but are you like, actually living here now?”</p><p>Corpse paused momentarily in tying his laces. “Uh…”</p><p>“I mean, it’s none of my business if you are.”</p><p>Corpse finished with his shoes and stood up. The look he gave Toast was skeptical. “Sykkuno’s your friend, that kind of makes it your business, doesn’t it?”</p><p>“Then why won’t you answer, Corpse? Huh?” Toast challenged him, a mischievous sparkle in his eye. “We’re friends now, too, aren’t we? You’ve even seen my baby pictures. That mean I get to make your personal life my business now too?”</p><p>“You <i>showed</i> me those pictures. Proudly, I might add.”</p><p>“You still asked for them first,” Toast countered with a lilt of triumph, because it was technically true and Corpse had nothing left in his arsenal. He turned serious again as they said good-bye to Bimbus and locked the door. “Seriously though, Corpse, is everything okay? Both you and Sykkuno have seemed kind of… off… lately.”</p><p><i>Both?</i> Corpse wondered how and what exactly Toast had noticed. He pushed that question aside to instead contemplate his answer. “No... no, we’re, well,” he paused to swallow because he felt like it was lying to say, “I think Sykkuno’s fine,” since Sykkuno had definitely had his moments where he’d seemed distracted by something lately. “And I…” he took awhile to add, “just haven’t been sleeping much.”</p><p>Toast pressed his lips together and filed this answer away in the back of his mind. “If the movie’s boring, no one will mind if you take a nap in the backseat.”</p><p>“Isn’t it a horror movie marathon? You try sleeping through Sykkuno and Rae screaming.”</p><p>“Let’s buy earplugs too while we’re getting snacks.”</p><p>“You’re a fuckin’ genius, Toast.”</p><p> </p><p>Corpse and Toast bought snacks and drinks and went ahead to the drive-in theatre to get a good spot. Toast texted Rae their location and they waited with the windows down while the lot filled with other horror movie fans around them.</p><p>“The weather’s nice, do you think if we all four sat on the hood it’ll dent my car?”</p><p>“I don’t know if I’d risk it,” Corpse said cautiously.</p><p>“You’re probably right.” Toast spotted Rae and Sykkuno approaching and poked his head out to wave them over.</p><p>“Hey guys,” Rae was practically bouncing. “Are ya ready for this? Are ya? First person to get scared has to chug their drink.” She hustled Sykkuno ahead of her into the backseat before anyone could protest. “What snacks did you get?”</p><p>Sykkuno draped himself over the seat back. “Hi Corpse.”</p><p>Corpse lifted one hand to brush his fingertips under his chin. “Hey.”</p><p>“There they are! I told you I saw Rae and Sykkuno coming in,” an outside voice declared.</p><p>Sykkuno leaned further over the seat and ducked his head to see out the front window of the car. “Tina?” He saw who she was with and added, confused, “Brooke? Karl?”</p><p>Everyone exchanged greetings and Toast was the one to bring up the one thing they were all thinking, “Didn’t expect to see you three together.”</p><p>“What’re you talking about? I’m friends with everyone,” Tina pretended to take offense at this. She meant it as a joke, but it was kind of true, too.</p><p>“We’re going to watch from the picnic area, if you want to hang out later,” Brooke offered.</p><p>“Oh cool, we can visit between movies maybe,” Rae happily took her up on it. This seemed agreeable to everyone and the Tina/Brooke/Karl trio continued on their way.</p><p>Toast watched them go and asked, “Tina’s not…?”</p><p>“No, Tina’s just a lovely person to be around,” Corpse answered his unfinished question.</p><p>“I like that everyone’s becoming friends,” Sykkuno commented happily.</p><p> </p><p>The first movie started, so they broke out the snacks and opened their drinks while settling in to watch. It didn’t take long for Rae and Sykkuno to go from riffing on the movie to clinging to each other in apprehension and loudly decrying anything that gave them a fright. The seating arrangement luckily allowed for Toast and Corpse to mutually save face when they got scared.</p><p>They were all four coming down from the last jump scare of the movie as the credits played when suddenly Tina knocked at Corpse’s window.</p><p>“Jesus, Tina!” Sykkuno cried. He clutched at his heart and flopped over into Rae.</p><p>“Sorry, sorry,” she put her hands together when Corpse rolled down the window. “Um, I don’t know what’s going on exactly, but there’s something wrong with Brooke and Karl, and Brooke said to come get you guys.”</p><p>“Come get us?” Sykkuno looked around at the others to confirm they all came to the same conclusion, then set his drink in the back seat cup holder and reached for the door. However, he’d barely taken one step outside when the world swam and he flopped backwards to use the car for support. That was weird, he barely drank any alcohol at all. Why was he…</p><p>A blinding headache hit him like nothing he’d ever experienced before, radiating from his left eye, and Sykkuno slapped a hand to his face with an outcry.</p><p>At the same time, Tina raised her voice in alarm. “Corpse?!” She unsuccessfully tried to catch him as he dropped to the ground, crumpling under his weight onto her knees but at the very least cushioning his fall. Sykkuno pushed off the car to help but pitched forward only to end up collapsing as well and she wailed, “Sykkuno?! What the heck?!”</p><p>Rae and Toast ran around the car to pull them off her and help Tina to her feet.</p><p>“Okay, let’s deal with this one problem at a time. Tina, what exactly happened with Brooke and Karl?” Toast asked, his voice tight.</p><p>“I, I don’t know, it got weirdly dark all of a sudden and they started choking or something. It was scary…” Tina answered shakily.</p><p>“I’ll go check on them,” Toast started running in the direction of the picnic area. “Rae, see if you can wake those two.”</p><p>“Seriously, this again…?” Rae kneeled down and felt Sykkuno’s forehead. “What’s going on with you two idiots now?”</p><p>He turned his face into her touch and slurred, “I didn’t do… anything… I swear…”</p><p>“You existed, I’m starting to suspect that’s enough,” Rae grumbled.</p><p>“What the heck is going on here?!” Tina demanded, and Rae had no idea how to answer.</p><p> </p><p>Brooke and Karl were nowhere to be found. Toast found an empty cat-and-bunny patterned blanket and a bag that he recognized as Brooke’s, but no sign of them otherwise. The people in the surrounding area were watching the next movie start none the wiser. </p><p>“The fuck is going on?” Toast cursed under his breath.</p><p>He gave up on Brooke and Karl for the time being and ran back to the car, where Rae and Tina had managed to get Corpse and Sykkuno back into the car, putting them both in the back seat. Corpse was out cold but Sykkuno was still clinging to consciousness, if only barely. He was essentially sidelined, as it were.</p><p>Toast stood back and crossed his arms. What did they know?</p><p>Tina had mentioned Brooke and Karl started choking, and Toast felt bile rise in the back of his throat as he remembered the shadow creatures invading his mouth at the museum. It seemed a safe bet that they were involved somehow. Was this another of Karl’s ‘scenario’s? But he told Rae he didn’t hang out with the shadows anymore.</p><p>Tina didn’t know anything. When you got right down to it, Rae’s and his knowledge basically boiled down to ‘we know we don’t know anything’. If it was the shadow creatures, how could they know for sure? They couldn’t even see them. Was Tina really Tina? Probably, going by the name test that Sykkuno had told them about. What was affecting Corpse and Sykkuno like this? Was it some other crazy supernatural thing happening? Were the two things connected or separate? Toast had no frame of reference, how was he supposed to know? Was there someone he could get in touch with? That Dream guy, plus the pink astronaut and his friend from the haunted house came to mind, but he had no way to contact them. He felt like there was someone else, someone he was forgetting, but couldn’t think of who it might be…</p><p>But that didn’t matter. They were on their own.</p><p>Toast approached the car again and leaned over the girls to peer inside. “Sykkuno, look around, do you see anything strange or unusual?”</p><p>“Huh?” Sykkuno’s voice was hazy, and his eyes unfocused.</p><p>Rae gently urged Tina to give Toast room, and they made space for him to crouch down next to the open car door. He shook Sykkuno’s shoulder and kept his voice firm. “We’ll try to help any way we can, Sykkuno, but we need your eyes. Just tell me if you see anything and I’ll check it out.”</p><p>Sykkuno weakly tried to sit up and moved to get out of the car. “No, it’s too dangerous for you guys… let me go…”</p><p>“You think--” Toast started to argue.</p><p>“What’s wrong with Corpse?!” Rae cut him off, sounding alarmed. Beside her, Tina gasped.</p><p>A knot formed in Sykkuno’s chest, even before he turned to see. He knew already anyway. He spun around where he was sitting, scooping one of Corpse’s hands up into both of his and doubling over. This time, Corpse returning to solid form seemed to take a heartbeat longer than usual, and it also took a moment for the pain to subside.</p><p>“Sykkuno?” he heard Rae’s strained voice lean closer behind him.</p><p>“Guys…” Tina whined, sounding worried and afraid. Sykkuno squeezed his eyes shut and shook his head, unable to form words.</p><p>“Sykkuno, what’s wrong?” Toast asked, the words coming out sharply in an unconscious effort to hide his alarm.</p><p>Sykkuno shook his head again in a nonverbal request for time. He experimentally loosened his hold on Corpse’s hands and the ache flared up, sharp and unable to be ignored. He couldn’t let go until Corpse woke up, he was sure of it. What could he do? What could they do? He swallowed and thought fast. Brooke and Karl might be in trouble. Toast and Rae could at least look for them while he tried to wake Corpse up. That seemed the best option they had.</p><p>“O-Okay… You have to… um…” Sykkuno forced himself to take deep breaths. “Look for someplace that seems darker than the others, or anywhere the lights are off when they should be on, that kind of place. If it… if it gives you the creeps it might be full of shadows.”</p><p>“Okay, that makes sense…” Toast nodded. This seemed to mesh with what little he knew so far.</p><p>“B-Brooke is strong… she might have… they might have just taken the fight away from Tina… to protect her…” Oh god, Sykkuno felt so bad for Tina. She didn’t ask to be involved in this. No one asked to be involved in this.</p><p>“That makes sense,” Rae crossed her arms. “The picnic area is full of people, too.”</p><p>“So, look for somewhere dark and creepy, in a drive-in theatre at night, during a horror movie marathon, shouldn’t be too hard,” Toast joked to put on a brave face.</p><p>“Here…” Sykkuno pulled his butterfly knife from his pocket and held it out to him. “Just in case.”</p><p>“It’s dangerous to go alone, take this?” Toast quipped.</p><p>Sykkuno laughed weakly.</p><p>Toast took the knife and withdrew from the car. “Rae, you want to come with me?”</p><p>“Can someone please tell me what’s going on?” Tina demanded, her voice high and thin with worry.</p><p>“Sykkuno?” Toast said his name sternly, but questioningly.</p><p>“Yeah,” Sykkuno answered, sounding exhausted.</p><p>“What are we going to do though?” Rae asked with a worried frown.</p><p>“In the meantime, just see what we can find, then come back and see if these two are feeling any better, I guess?” Toast hefted the knife. “We can’t just do nothing.”</p><p>“Good point. Let’s go.” Rae put a hand on the still-open passenger side door. “Tina, wait here in the car.”</p><p>“Be careful,” Sykkuno called after them.</p><p>Tina sat in the passenger seat and closed the door after herself. She turned around to sit on her knees on the seat and peer timidly into the back. Sykkuno was half-sitting sideways with both Corpse’s hands folded between his own and his head resting lightly on Corpse’s shoulder. Corpse was lying lifelessly at an awkward angle, not having moved from the position Rae and Tina had shoved him inside in. Even to Tina’s eyes, something about him seemed off, like he was just slightly out of focus compared to the rest of the world.</p><p>“What’s wrong with him?” she asked, voice small.</p><p>Sykkuno opened his eyes, and for not the first time, Tina weirdly had the impression they looked a different colour from usual. He turned his head to the side and met her gaze. “I don’t know for sure, but, I, I think he’s sick…”</p><p>“You don’t know?”</p><p>“He won’t say anything and I’m afraid to ask,” Sykkuno smiled wryly.</p><p>“Well that’s stupid,” Tina told him flatly.</p><p>“Wha?”</p><p>“Just say something already. He just freaking collapsed outta nowhere, you don’t think he’s sick you <i>know</i> he’s sick! You care about him, don’t you?” Somehow her naturally cute voice drove the point of the truth home even harder than if it had come from anyone else, “Sometimes that means it’s your job to straight-up tell the other person when they’re being a <i>fucking idiot</i>.”</p><p>“Tina?!” Sykkuno had never heard her cuss before. It was remarkably effective.</p><p>Abruptly the driver’s side door opened and Dream dropped into the seat saying, “She’s right, you know,” by way of greeting.</p><p>“Oh great, now who’s this weirdo?” Tina grumbled.</p><p>“Dream? What are you doing here?” Sykkuno asked.</p><p>Dream had his mask on, so his expression was completely and utterly unreadable. He waited a moment that was just long enough to be uncomfortable before he turned to the passenger seat. “Tina, right? I need a minute to talk to Sykkuno. Everyone’s gonna come back here anyway, so why don’t you go get your stuff from the picnic area?”</p><p>“How do you…?” Tina started to ask, then shook her head. She looked to Sykkuno, who gave her a reassuring nod, and opened the car door. “Know what? I don’t even want to know. I’ll be right back though, so don’t try anything funny, ya hear me?”</p><p>“Not me!” Dream called after her, completely unconvincing. He turned back to Sykkuno and lifted his mask up onto the top of his head. “So.”</p><p>“So?” Sykkuno sat upright.</p><p>Dream’s eyes darted briefly to Corpse. “Well, I can’t help you with that, but I can help your friends if you want me to.”</p><p>“If I want you to?”</p><p>“Yeah, otherwise I see no merit in it for me.”</p><p>There was an interesting insight into Dream that, going by all the other times their paths had crossed, didn’t actually surprise Sykkuno all that much. He thought of all the other ‘imposter’ encounters he’d had, and they’d always been excellent copies. It was hard to explain… the ‘motivations’ were changed, like Imposter Sean trying to keep everyone in the coffee shop until they went to sleep, or Imposter Rae playing along with Karl’s scenario, and the actions they took might be uncharacteristic, like Imposter Sykkuno stabbing Corpse in the back… but the fundamental personality traits were still there. Imposter Sean still cracked jokes, Imposter Rae still took action in stressful situations, Imposter Hafu and 5up had been practically exact copies. So, considering all that and thinking back on Imposter Dream...</p><p>“Dream, are you up to something?” Sykkuno asked slowly, oddly more curious than suspicious.</p><p>Dream gave him a cheerful smile. “I’m always up to something.”</p><p>"Um…"</p><p>“No really…” In the dim interior of the car, Dream’s hazel eyes stood out unnaturally bright against the red scar that crossed them. He twisted further around, folding his arms over the seat and leaning forward to close the distance between himself and Sykkuno. He dropped his voice not quite to a whisper, but to a level that was clearly meant to keep their conversation just between the two of them.</p><p>“Okay,” he began once he was sure he had Sykkuno’s full attention, “there’s two things you need to know before you come any further into our world, Sykkuno, and I like you, I like you a lot, so I’m gonna lay it out for you.</p><p>“The first is a reminder really, that I owe you my eyes, and my life, and I swear that I will be in your debt for as long as I live. No harm will ever come to you from me, either directly or indirectly. That’s a promise.” </p><p>He paused, waiting for Sykkuno to nod and affirm that he understood. Upon receiving it, he went on, “The second thing is that I am always, always…” his face broke out into a sly grin that was evocative of the one his imposter had nearly always shown to a disconcerting degree, “up to something.”</p><p> </p><p>“Whatchu thinkin’, Rae?” Toast asked.</p><p>“I’m thinkin’...” Rae struggled to keep her voice level, “I’m thinkin’ I don’t like this, Toast. I don’t like this one bit.”</p><p>“Oh, hey, you actually found it. Good job, guys,” Dream greeted them as he walked up.</p><p>Toast and Rae turned away from the rickety old disused concession stand adjacent to the drive-in theatre to watch him approach. If there was anywhere in the area that was going to be unnaturally dark and gave people the creeps, it was going to be here. Judging by the amount of graffiti and the dated lettering and colour choices, it hadn’t been in use since at least the nineties.</p><p>“You again!”</p><p>“Me again! I asked Sykkuno if he wanted me to help and he said yes,” Dream paused next to them and pulled down his mask over his face. Even without its help making the dark easier to see in, the fact that they had both clued into the suspiciously specific way he worded that statement was amusingly clear.</p><p>“Are those shadow things in there?” Toast asked.</p><p>“Yup. Lots of them. You probably don’t want to go in there.”</p><p>“Are Brooke and Karl?”</p><p>Dream chuckled a little and let that be his answer. “Go ahead and head back. I’ll handle it.”</p><p>“Did you always know about this place?” Rae clearly already thought he did.</p><p>Dream spread his hands. “Yeah. I figured they’d cause trouble and I wanted to see what would happen.”</p><p>“Wh- That’s- Okay, fine, then what did you do to Corpse?” Rae demanded.</p><p>“To Corpse?” Dream’s tone changed, his cavalier attitude dropping just slightly, which Toast and Rae read as confirmation that this was something actually very serious. “Nothing, Corpse did that to himself.”</p><p> </p><p>Somewhere in the space of time between Dream leaving the car and Tina returning, Sykkuno had dozed off against Corpse’s shoulder, or maybe he passed out, he wasn’t sure. When he came to, they were alone in the backseat and the credits for a movie, be it the second or third of the night, he couldn’t say, were scrolling on the screen. His smartphone was set where he would be sure to see it in the crook of his elbow and the light was flashing to indicate he had a text message.</p><p>The message was from Rae:</p><p>
  <i>Everyone’s fine. idk what you said to Dream but he took care of it and left. We’re at the picnic area w Tina Brooke + Karl. If u 2 feel up to it, come find us when u wake up.</i>
</p><p>
  <i>not saving u any snacks tho ;p</i>
</p><p>Corpse stirred underneath him just as he turned the screen off, and asked thickly, “What happened?”</p><p>Sykkuno thought of what Tina had said and what Dream had said and how scared and frustrated he was and how scared Rae and Toast had looked and how he was at his wits’ end. He couldn’t go on like this. “Corpse…” his voice broke slightly and he needed a moment before going on, “I think that’s my question.” When Corpse didn’t say anything, he slowly, cautiously, pulled his hands away and sat back. “You have to tell me what’s wrong. We can’t… it’s not good for us to keep pretending everything’s fine… when it c-clearly isn’t...”</p><p>The black screen of the credits scrolling by didn’t afford them much light, but Corpse could have been eyes closed, blindfolded in pitch blackness and still been able to see the pain on Sykkuno’s face. “You’re right.”</p><p>Sykkuno texted Rae back to say that he and Corpse were going home ahead of everyone and to say good night for them. It was a fair distance from the drive-in theatre to the apartment, but they walked rather than call a ride. When they arrived it was well into the night, and the moon was high overhead, a thin sliver of silver against the sky only a day or two away from being a new moon.</p><p>They sat facing each other on the bed and Sykkuno absently ran his thumb over the scar on his palm while he waited.</p><p>Finally Corpse broke the silence. “How long have you known?”</p><p>“I, I don’t know… right, um, after the museum, I guess? I woke up one morning and, and you were… it looked like you were disappearing or something and…” he put one hand to his face, “and it hurt.”</p><p>Corpse looked alarmed. “It hurt? You mean…?”</p><p>Sykkuno nodded. “All the time.”</p><p>Corpse reached for him, looking heartbroken. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t… I didn’t know...”</p><p>Sykkuno intercepted his hands and clasped them beneath his own, holding them down on the duvet between them. “I don’t want you to apologize, Corpse. It's okay, I just want you to tell me what’s wrong.”</p><p>Corpse faltered, clearly struggling to find the words.</p><p>Sykkuno summoned up his courage and asked directly, “How long has it been since you went home?” The surprised and guilty look on Corpse’s face was answer enough, but he had to know. “Hafu told me that spirits have to go home or something bad happens. How long, Corpse?”</p><p>“Not since…” Corpse’s voice went very quiet, “I don’t even really remember. I was already kind of stretching it out dangerously for some time before those three days, it was probably around then...”</p><p>Jesus, that was <i>months</i> ago. Sykkuno’s heart constricted and there suddenly wasn’t enough air in the room.</p><p>Corpse went on, “I got so scared that something might happen to you that I kept putting it off, and I… sometime I would go looking, hoping to find a way to, to fix… this, to fix <i>us</i>… because I hated the danger it put you in, and hated how, how it was worrying Rae and Toast, and, and… especially after the museum I just...” he pulled one hand out from Sykkuno’s grip to place it on top of the pile, “part of me, selfishly, would rather have spent time with, with you...”</p><p>Sykkuno took a moment to sort out how he felt about this new revelation. It sounded romantic on the surface but... “Okay… um… a-actually, I think I might be guilty of that too. Kind of, um...” You’d think by now they would have learned to communicate better, he thought bitterly. “So, so what happens, what… <i>is</i> happening, now that it’s been so long?”</p><p>Corpse ran his hand through his hair and then swiped it around to pull down his surgical mask and fist it at his mouth. “Ever notice how I recovered much faster from any damage I took when stuff happened than you?”</p><p>“Yeah, but I mean, I usually get more hurt anyway.” Sykkuno flexed the fingers on his left hand and joked without humour. “I remember you once said something about damage accumulating but healing over time…” Sykkuno trailed off. The realization began to dawn on him even as Corpse started to explain.</p><p>“Kind of,” Corpse added, the same as he had once before. “Most of the healing is done when… when we’re in our true form. Otherwise it builds up inside and…” he grimaced at having to tell Sykkuno the next part. He put his hand back down on the bed, on top of where Sykkuno still had his both over his other one, “and the longer it becomes before we can take human form again. That...” his voice quieted even further as the truth occurred even to himself, “that might also be… a big part of why I stupidly kept putting it off.”</p><p>"So… so… you've stayed down here with me for so long… protected me for so long… and made yourself so sick that… when, when you go home now it might have to be for a very long time, is what you’re saying?"</p><p>"Yeah." When this was met with silence, Corpse ventured a glance at Sykkuno’s face. “Are… you…?” He didn’t quite know how to finish the question. Angry, sad, disappointed, conflicted…? None of them and all of them seemed to fit.</p><p>A muscle worked in Sykkuno's jaw. His eyes were fixed on the hand pile between them. “I understand why you didn’t want to tell me…”</p><p>The urge to leave it at that was powerful, but they had committed themselves to talking. Corpse owed it to Sykkuno to press the issue. “That… wasn’t what I was asking, Sykkuno…” Maybe all and none of the words fit because it wasn’t his place to assume. “If… we're being honest, then… you need to tell me what you’re feeling…”</p><p>Sykkuno sat back and drew his hands into tight fists in his lap. “I understand but… y-yeah, I’m… I’m still upset.” The first tear streaked down his face. “I’m very upset. I’m upset at y-you for, for not taking better care of yourself, a-and for not telling me… I’m, I’m upset at, at myself for not… for not a-asking sooner… when, when I, when I should have… I’m… I’m…”</p><p>Corpse hesitantly reached out to comfort him, and his touch set Sykkuno into motion, with such force and so suddenly that Corpse went down on his back underneath him. Sykkuno choked out the word, “Why?” straddling him on his knees and knocking one fist against his chest. The other went up to his face to use the heel of his hand to wipe tears away, or maybe he was just instinctively reaching for the eye with the drop of moonlight within it. “Why didn’t you tell me? Why didn’t you say something? Why didn’t I say something? Is this all my fault?” He bent forward on another broken “Is it?” and pressed his face into Corpse’s chest.</p><p>Sykkuno’s shoulders shuddered wretchedly, and Corpse placed one hand in comfort at the back of his head. He waited with all the patience Sykkuno had afforded him on multiple occasions. When Sykkuno finally lifted his head, he brushed his thumb along the tear-shiny skin beneath his beautiful mistake that had brought them together and tried to say something, anything, but no sound came out.</p><p>Sykkuno shifted forward and pressed his mouth to his. The kisses were sloppy and earnest and tasted of salty tears. Sykkuno was still sobbing between each one and when Corpse finally found his voice it was a whispered plea for him to stop crying.</p><p>Sykkuno responded with a petulant, “You first.” He slipped the mask all the way off from where it was hooked behind Corpse’s ears and brushed soft kisses across his adam’s apple and up along under his jaw. “You have to go home. You have to.”</p><p>“I do, I will, but… I’m so…" he bit his lip at the look on Sykkuno's face. "I honestly don’t know when I’ll be able to come back…”</p><p>“I’ll wait,” Sykkuno promised, his voice thick with emotion. “As long as I have to.”</p><p>Corpse shook his head. “Sy, baby, I can’t… I can’t ask that of you.”</p><p>“You can’t ask me not to,” Sykkuno countered obstinately.</p><p>There it was, that gorgeous look of determination that had captured his heart entirely. He wouldn’t dare ever argue with it. “Come here,” Corpse wrapped Sykkuno up in his arms again, rolling them over to reverse positions where he could press him down into the mattress and breathe deeply of him. He still didn’t like the taste of coffee but had grown to love the faint scent of it on Sykkuno after he’d been working. “I’ll go,” he promised. He felt Sykkuno quivering and held him tighter. “I’ll go in the morning.” All he could do is assure him with touch, and make the most of the time they had left together. Corpse braced himself on one elbow and let his hand drop down behind Sykkuno’s waist to seek out the smooth skin of his back under his hoodie. “So we still have a little bit of time.”</p><p>Sykkuno lifted his body for Corpse to pull the hoodie all the way off over his head. “In the morning,” he repeated softly.</p><p>***</p><p>They took their time, drawing out each touch and caress as if committing it to careful memory. Each kiss was like bubbles of air they needed to keep from drowning. Corpse devoted himself to every little motion, every little sound; from the keening moan of his name when he took one earlobe between his teeth to how Sykkuno clung to his shoulders as Corpse slid one slick finger, then another slowly in and out, and how he then uttered soft, sweet cries against his skin when Corpse pushed inside him. Sykkuno dug his fingers into the back of Corpse’s neck and his hair, rocking his hips in time to each thrust. </p><p>Corpse came with a low, grateful groan. He gasped Sykkuno’s name at the end of it, reaching between them to urge him along as well. An almost melancholic, almost reluctant outcry escaped him as his cock twitched with release in Corpse’s hand. Corpse nuzzled needily at him as they came down, peppering kisses anywhere he could. He caught himself before he apologized again, breaking off at, “Sykkuno…”</p><p>Sykkuno shook his head, gently brushing some sweat-stuck strands of hair from Corpse’s forehead. His fingertips trailed down the side of his face to trace a path across his lips. "It’s okay. We’ll be okay."</p><p>They showered and then settled against each other on the bed, content to spend the remainder of the night in each other’s arms. Corpse smoothed Sykkuno’s hair behind his ear and his thumb brushed the faint red line left where he’d bit down. “We never did pierce your ear.” He bit it again playfully and Sykkuno giggled.</p><p>“Looks better on you anyway.”</p><p>***</p><p>Just before the sun rose, they walked to the park hand in hand, crossing it to the open area where they’d watched the international space station pass overhead not too long ago. This early in the morning, the park was all but devoid of people. The sky overhead was cloudless, painted in watery pastels that blended from colour to colour in a cascade towards the glow of the rising sun. The moon was a thin fragment of silver-white hanging midway to the horizon.</p><p>“Stay safe,” Corpse told him.</p><p>Sykkuno squeezed his hand. “I’ll be watching the sky.”</p><p>Corpse cupped Sykkuno’s face and put their foreheads together one final time. That touch was the last of him to linger, like a soft breeze as the dawn broke and he faded into the light, and then he was gone.</p><p>Sykkuno sank to his knees in the grass and watched the sun come up over the cityline. The blue sky slowly obscured the last pale wisp of moon as day overtook the night. The empty ache inside was unlike anything he’d ever felt before. But even so, the dull background pain that had been a near-constant in his left eye recently was gone, he realized. Corpse was okay now. He was resting.</p><p>And so Sykkuno would content himself to wait.</p>
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<a name="section0012"><h2>12. Chapter 12</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>This chapter is rated 'T'</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Sykkuno stretched his arms above his head and screwed up his face as the knots strained in his shoulders. Staying up until 4 a.m. playing shooting games online had probably been a bad idea. He glanced out the shop window at the sky, and a pleased smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. The rain from the previous couple of days had passed and the sky was clear.</p><p>He returned to the counter and said, “I’m gonna head out. Can you start an espresso for me so I can make an iced coffee for the road?”</p><p>Rae gave him a knowing smile. “Stargazing tonight?”</p><p>“Of course,” Sykkuno began untying his apron. “It’s a full moon.”</p><p>Rae’s smile turned a little sad. “How many months has it been now?”</p><p>“I try not to count.” It felt like a lie but the emphasis was on ‘try’ so it was still technically the truth. Sykkuno fidgeted a bit, fixing an imaginary flyaway lock of his bangs and fiddling with the apron ties before giving up on saying more and moving to hang it up in the back. </p><p>When he emerged, bag slung over his shoulder and sliding his phone into his back pocket, Rae handed him an iced coffee, already made for him. “Say hi for me, in any case.”</p><p>"Me too," Toast added.</p><p>“I will.”</p><p>“And be careful,” she added to his back as he headed through the door. “I don’t like you going out in the dark by yourself.”</p><p>“Geez mom, take it easy,” Toast teased her.</p><p>“Oh like you’re not worried too,” she fired back, and Toast had no defense.</p><p> </p><p>Sykkuno climbed to the crest of the hill and put down the little plastic tarp he’d brought with him to sit on. The ground was still wet from the rain and driving home with damp jeans clinging to his butt was not an experience he wanted to repeat. Once had been enough.</p><p>The round, bright, gold-tinged full moon was just rising near the horizon. Sykkuno sat and hugged his knees to his chest. “Hey Corpse,” he greeted it softly. The lack of response was, as with every month, a mixed-blessing. No response meant he was resting, which was good, but no response also meant Sykkuno still had to wait, which was… well, it was sad. It was lonely.</p><p>Sykkuno leaned back and turned his gaze to the stars. He would spend the night stargazing with Corpse, just like they always had.</p><p>A drop of the moon fell from the sky.</p><p>A drop of the moon brought him closer to the sky.</p><p>Even now, he didn’t regret anything in the slightest.</p><p> </p><p>"Sykkunie!" Sean greeted him loudly when he came in for the evening shift.</p><p>“Hi Sean,” Sykkuno took note of how he was practically bouncing out of his chair. “Are you… okay? Did you have too much coffee today?”</p><p>“I don’t know what you’re talking about. This is just me. This is just me high on <i>life</i>!”</p><p>“Um… okay…?” Sykkuno looked to Toast for an explanation but got none, just an exasperated head shake. He decided his best course of action was to keep walking and get ready for his shift.</p><p>“Wait, Sykkuno?” Sean called after him. “I got in touch with this artisan tea company that’s willing to work out a deal with us. Any idea yet when our favorite tea drinker is coming back?”</p><p>Sykkuno stopped walking but Toast was the one who answered, “Go ahead and order some anyway. Karl will drink it.”</p><p>“You’re right,” Sean picked up his phone to make a note for himself.</p><p>Later on, when Sean had left to do business things, Toast came back to where Sykkuno was checking stock behind the counter. “You okay?” he asked. Sykkuno nodded mutely. “Alright, I’m gonna take my break and grab something to eat. You want anything?” Sykkuno shook his head. “See you in half an hour, then.”</p><p>Toast didn’t have to take his break right then, Sykkuno knew he was giving him space. Left alone in the shop but for a few customers, he blew out a breath and absently rearranged the little basket of cookies by the register. He wished being caught by surprise with questions like that didn’t affect him so much. He said he would wait and he meant it.</p><p>When he’d told Rae and Toast, Rae had put her arms around him gently, and told him, “That doesn’t mean it’s not going to be hard.” She was right of course.</p><p>“We’re here for you if you need us,” Toast had offered. Sykkuno appreciated that.</p><p>When he’d told Brooke, she’d obscured her concern with a scoff and muttered, “That stupid bitch, I oughta…” before also offering her moral support. Sykkuno thanked her.</p><p>Karl had broken down, curling himself into a ball and begging forgiveness. “I knew. I wanted to tell you but he made me promise not to. I should have told you. I’m so sorry, Sykkuno. I really am.” </p><p>Sykkuno forgave him.</p><p>Tina had stopped him before he went into too much detail. “I told you, I don’t wanna know. You say he’s coming back?”</p><p>“Uh-huh, just… don’t know when…” his throat constricted before he could finish, <i>not for awhile.</i></p><p>“But he is coming back?” Sykkuno nodded, so she moved on to ask, “You’re okay?” Nod. “Everything’s okay?” Nod. “You guys actually talked and stuff?” Nod, nod. “Well, alright then. That’s good enough for me. You wanna come in and pet some cats for comfort?”</p><p>Sykkuno put a hand to his mouth as his face broke out in a smile. “Sure, I’ll pet some cats for a bit.”</p><p>But everyone else, Sean, Poki, and all the others in their circle of friends, at first Sykkuno was at a loss. He hated lying and didn’t know what to tell them. With Rae and Toast’s help, he settled on just saying that Corpse had to take a trip to his hometown for health issues and would be back sometime when he was better. It seemed to go over without question, they were all already used to Corpse not revealing much about himself, but people still liked to check in, and those moments were difficult.</p><p>He needed things to distract himself with, so he wandered back and forth, making sure the coffee beans were topped up in the grinder, everything was washed, there was still plenty of sugar and all that on the sideboard… everything was in order. None of the customers appeared to need anything. It was a slow afternoon. Sykkuno pulled out his phone and tapped around absently before putting it away again with a sigh.</p><p>The door to the cafe opened and Sykkuno looked up to greet a familiar green hoodie. “Hi Dream.”</p><p>“Hey Sykkuno, what’s up? Just you right now?”</p><p>“Yup, Toast is on his break.”</p><p>“Oh, you’re working with Toast today,” Dream said, sounding as though this might be significant. “I see.”</p><p>“Did… you want to talk to Toast?”</p><p>“Nah, we’re good.”</p><p>‘We’re good’? What did that mean? Ever since Dream had come right out and told Sykkuno that he was always up to something, he’d taken to second-guessing and looking for layers of meaning in everything he said. He still didn’t believe Dream was a bad person, but the impression gotten by several people around him that Dream couldn’t quite be trusted was looking to be a safe assessment. If that made any sense.</p><p>“Okay, can I get you anything?” Sykkuno asked.</p><p>“Uhh… sure. I’ll have an orange juice.” Dream put down some money and leaned on the counter. He waited and watched Sykkuno go through the motions of taking down a glass, putting ice in it, and retrieving the carton of orange juice from the refrigerator. “Keeping out of trouble?”</p><p>“More or less,” Sykkuno answered cautiously.</p><p>“No shadows or anything coming after you?”</p><p>“I’ve been staying away from any places that seem like they might have a lot of them,” Sykkuno hedged around answering directly. The truth was he had needed to defend himself from minor encounters here and there, but old habits died hard and he’d been keeping that to himself so people wouldn’t worry. The irony that not talking about important things was part of the reason he was in his current predicament was also not lost on him. He’d tried to balance it by answering Rae and Toast honestly when they asked about any minor scuffs and scrapes he came into work with as a result.</p><p>“Uh-huh, that’s smart.” He got the impression Dream saw through him. “Been practicing with your knife?”</p><p>Sykkuno set his drink down on the counter for him. “You’re not going to ask me to help you out with something again, are you, Dream?”</p><p>“Nonononono, not today anyway. I’m just curious, is all.”</p><p>“Just curious?”</p><p>“Yeah. Can’t I just… come check in on my favorite almost-spirit from time to time?” Dream took a sip and grinned.</p><p>Sykkuno’s head cocked slightly to the side and he frowned a little. “I’m not--”</p><p>“Aren’t you?” Dream downed the rest of his juice and the ice left behind seemed to clink against the glass unnaturally loud. “Thanks for the orange juice. See you around.”</p><p>Toast came back just as Dream was on his way out. He squinted suspiciously at Dream’s back after they exchanged pleasantries and approached the counter.</p><p>“What’d that guy want?”</p><p>“I don’t know, he said he was just checking in on me…” Sykkuno answered slowly. He picked up the glass of orange-tinted ice. “And ordered an orange juice.”</p><p>Toast made a small, quiet harumph of displeasure and took the glass from him. “I’ll wash this.”</p><p>“Hey, Toast?”</p><p>“Yeah?”</p><p>“I never got to ask, why did you choose to go with Dream instead of me when we were at the museum? He was a complete stranger then; you didn’t even know his name.”</p><p>Toast scratched at the back of his head thoughtfully and screwed up his mouth while he contemplated his answer. “You had clearly made up your mind not to tell us anything, so I had to try someone else, didn’t I? You’re too stubborn sometimes.”</p><p>Sykkuno chuckled nervously behind his hand because he was right.</p><p> </p><p>Later on, after they’d closed up the shop and he was waiting for Toast to lock the door, Sykkuno couldn’t get what Dream said out of his head.</p><p>Almost-spirit?</p><p>Sykkuno wasn’t an almost anything. He was just plain-old human. The bit of the moon was still in his eye... and, okay sure, it was still getting easier to use, so in a way he had come to consider it ‘theirs’ to a certain extent, but he still mostly thought of it as being <i>Corpse’s</i> moonlight. Because it was Corpse’s moonlight. Eventually, at some point, be it by some method they found or when Sykkuno had lived out his life, it would go back to Corpse where it belonged, right?</p><p>Toast flipped his keychain around to sort out his car key. He considered Sykkuno’s pensive expression and asked, “What’re you thinking about?”</p><p>Sykkuno hesitated, then shook his head. “Lots of stuff, something Dream said earlier…”</p><p>Toast hefted his keys thoughtfully. “Wanna come hang at my place for a bit?”</p><p>“Sure.”</p><p>They detoured briefly to Sykkuno’s apartment to let Bimbus out and make sure he had food and water, then made the drive to Toast’s neighborhood. Toast lived in an area that had once been suburbs, but over time city development had swallowed it up into a sort of urban-with-a-vaguely-rural-feel limbo of sorts. There was a short walk from where he parked to his building that he often grumbled about when he was tired, and tonight was no exception.</p><p>“I still don’t get why they didn’t plan this better and put the parking lot between the buildings? Why all the way over there? It makes no sense.”</p><p>“I don’t know Toast, maybe they just wanted you to get some exercise,” Sykkuno teased.</p><p>“You think I don’t get enough exercise slaving away carrying bags of coffee beans and flour and shit around all day?”</p><p>Sykkuno almost laughed, but it died before coming out as he noticed the street lamp they were coming up on flicker.</p><p>Toast followed his line of sight and waved one hand dismissively. “That’s been like that for awhile now, it’s probably nothing to worry about.” When the other man didn’t say anything right away, he frowned. “Sykkuno, it’s okay. You don’t have to--”</p><p>All at once every street lamp in sight went out and Toast closed his eyes in a mix of annoyance and something akin to disappointment. “I stand corrected.”</p><p>“It’s because you’re with me. It’s my fault,” Sykkuno told him.</p><p>There was a lot to unpack in that statement, Toast recognized, but now was not the time.</p><p>Sykkuno moved with disconcerting ease, each motion he made and manipulation of the butterfly knife he carried speaking to an amount of experience that Toast wished he didn’t have. It was difficult to follow what exactly was happening, since he could only just barely see the sentient shadows. From his perspective it was like a magic eye drawing or optical illusion he hadn’t quite figured out the right distance to see properly yet.</p><p>Unbidden, or maybe because Sykkuno had brought it up earlier that day, a fragment of conversation from that night in the museum replayed itself in the forefront of Toast’s mind…</p><p>Even with the unnerving white smiley face mask on, Toast could tell Dream was looking at him. “What?”</p><p>“You look like a man with a lot of questions.”</p><p>“You look like a man who can’t be trusted.” Nobody smiled all the time.</p><p>“You seem to be trusting me a whole lot right now?”</p><p>“I trust Sykkuno.”</p><p>“Ah, well…” Dream uttered a breathy, quiet little laugh. There was a story there; just one more thing that Toast was out of the loop on and he hated that. “That’s something we have in common.” Dream tipped his head to the side as Sean opened a door and peered inside, then straightened back up to bounce slightly on the balls of his feet. “Aren’t you gonna try any of your questions on me?”</p><p>That had been Toast’s intention, but now he wasn’t so sure he’d get a straight answer. He contemplated his options. “Nah.”</p><p>“Thinking about that time at the museum?” Dream asked, suddenly standing beside him in the reality outside his memories, unnervingly close at Toast’s side so their height difference made him even harder to get a read on.</p><p>Toast uttered an expletive and took a step to the side.</p><p>“I’ll take that as a ‘yes’,” Dream happily told him. He re-closed the distance between them to put his arm around Toast’s shoulders and set the tip of his sword against the sidewalk. He indicated the apartment building a short distance away. “That yours?”</p><p>“Yeah…” Toast said cautiously.</p><p>Dream’s grip around his shoulders tightened. “Okay then, I’ll run with you as far as the main entrance, then you get inside where it’s safe. Ready… go!”</p><p>Toast sputtered protests and more cuss words all the way across the pavement and up the walkway to his building. They passed by Sykkuno, who raised his voice in surprise and alarm, and also by more of the unseeable black shadows that grabbed at Toast’s clothes and tripped up his ankles. The utter loss of control so unnerved him it made him angry.</p><p>Dream left him at the main doors of his building with an annoyingly carefree parting comment of, “Nice talk, Toast. Let’s do it again sometime.”</p><p>What talk? “Let’s not.” Toast frowned at where he could barely see Sykkuno in the distance. Whatever the shadows did to block out the lights, it stuck with him all the way to his building, so he could no longer see anything of what was going on. Sykkuno was probably going to hurt himself, he should get the first-aid kit out.</p><p>Toast went up to his apartment, frowning in annoyance at his own helplessness all the way. On the way to the bathroom to get the first-aid kit, he stopped suddenly in the middle of the living room as something caught his eye. He hadn’t bothered even trying to turn on the light, but the windows were vaguely lighter; either some of the ambient light was returning or the shadows had retreated. As Toast’s eyes adjusted, he could see the light play off the shiny leaves of the little plants and succulents he had set on the windowsill, and the pearlescent white seashell he’d plucked out of the sand at the beach while helping a nice girl look for her lost hairpin…</p><p>Toast was hit with a realization so hard it nearly knocked him off his feet. He could have smacked himself. “You’re a fucking idiot, Jeremy,” he berated himself, so vehemently his proper name came out. He’d been so distracted by Dream and Karl’s antics and the whole truth about Corpse coming out that with the exception of a very brief moment of ‘oh yeah, what about her?’ he’d completely forgotten, not only about Lily, but about the very clear hint she’d left in his hands.</p><p> </p><p>Dream returned to where Sykkuno was just in time to cut down a shadow aiming to grab him from behind. Together they made short work of the remainder, and the street lamps glowed back to life overhead.</p><p>“Dream?” Sykkuno asked. He hated having to feel like he was suspecting him, but ever since the park Dream sure had picked up a habit of appearing out of nowhere to help him. <i>I’m always up to something</i>, he’d said. Would he be as honest with him now? “You’re not um, after the bit of moonlight I have or anything, are you?”</p><p>“Nononono, that’s all in the past. I would <i>never</i>. But since you brought it up, I’ve been meaning to ask you something…”</p><p>“Okay…?”</p><p>“Don’t you wonder why everyone wants it?”</p><p>This question gave Sykkuno pause. He flipped his knife open and shut thoughtfully. He had a vague idea. Enough people had alluded to it or said things to give him a fairly clear idea. He remembered when Dream, the real Dream standing in front of him, had pinned him to the floor and grabbed him by the face. “Well, you kinda said so yourself, didn’t you? That it would make you more powerful or something? Isn’t that what everyone wants?”</p><p>Dream pushed his mask up and to the side to give Sykkuno his true smile. “I did say something like that, didn’t I? So my question, my real question, is…” the smile widened ever so slightly, “why don’t <i>you</i> want it?”</p><p>“Huh?”</p><p>Dream laughed, the sound of it ringing sharp and bright in the evening air. “Have you really never thought about it? You gave me my eyes back, man! You harnessed the power of the moonlight to do that, with just a <i>drop</i>! You regularly use it to fight back against shadows, to see like we see… and you don’t even know you’re doing it, either! You think that knife is just a regular old knife Corpse randomly picked up somewhere? I’ll bet if you tried hard enough you wouldn’t even need to keep it in your pocket, you could just call it to you, like we do.” He disappeared his sword from one hand and manifested it into the air with the other to illustrate. “Think about it, Sykkuno, what else could you do, if you just let go of the idea that it belongs to someone else?”</p><p>Sykkuno listened carefully to what he said and turned the knife over in his hand. He never had thought about where it came from. It made sense that defending himself from the shadow creatures would require something special.</p><p>“But…” he said slowly, looking back up at Dream, “what do I even need it for, really? This <i>is</i> still Corpse’s moonlight. He should have it back.”</p><p>“Still don’t believe me?” Dream pulled something from his pocket. It caught the light of the street lamp overhead and was revealed to be a small, round compact mirror. He held it out and for the first time ever, Sykkuno saw himself with the bright moonlight overflowing from his eyes. The subtle shift in colour often mistaken for colour contacts by people and that he’d only briefly caught almost-glimpses of had overtaken his usual deep brown completely. They were also unnaturally bright, the light edging out around his eyelashes like mist dancing over water just before dawn. It was both beautiful and terrifying and it was <i>him</i>. Sykkuno’s breath stopped. Was this how he'd looked all those times?</p><p>“Look at you,” Dream’s voice was reverent. “Just from partial access to a <i>bit</i> of the moon. Imagine what you could do if you let go and made it completely yours. You might even be able to give Corpse his human form back.” Dream lifted his chin and narrowed his eyes in triumph. Whatever he was up to, showing Sykkuno this image of himself together with that statement appeared to be one of his trump cards.</p><p>Sykkuno missed Corpse. He missed Corpse dearly, so much that it was hard being alone sometimes because then it was all he could think about and it <i>hurt</i>. It hurt so much. It hurt just thinking about it now, to the point where he reached desperately for something, anything to distract himself from the heavy weight of temptation that had formed in the pit of his stomach.</p><p>“Is this… like, um, what you meant when you said s-something about playing games with Karl?”</p><p>Dream laughed softly and shook his head. “Me and Karl and some other friends, we play games, we have fun, but you, Sykkuno? What you have?” Dream came closer and bent over at the waist, even with his hands in the pockets of his hoodie it felt disconcertingly intimate, and Sykkuno shivered at the brush of his breath against his skin while Dream whispered something in his ear.</p><p>Sykkuno took several quick steps backward and gave a short, curt shake of his head. No.</p><p>Dream put up both hands, palms out, in a gesture of defeat. “Okay, I see how it is. I think someday you’ll come around, though. Until then, I’ll be around....” He waved and walked off into the night, adding, “whenever you need me,” over his shoulder. His tone was friendly but the implications felt vaguely ominous.</p><p>Sykkuno watched him go and blew out a long, slow breath. Dream wasn’t a bad guy, not really, he still believed that. He still believed when Dream said he wouldn’t harm him. But it was also very clear that the more he found out about and from Dream, the more the mystery around him seemed to deepen. Sykkuno fiddled with his bangs and bit his lip, he’d been given a lot to think about and a lot to feel exhausted by.</p><p>But more importantly, he had to check that Toast was okay. Sykkuno turned to go, only to be met with Toast running top-speed down the walk to grab him by the shoulders. “Sykkuno!”</p><p>“Toast! What? Wh-What did you come back for? I was just about to--”</p><p>“I’m so <i>stupid</i>. I’m so stupid, Sykkuno. It’s been sitting here this whole time.” He shook him by the shoulders. “So stupid!”</p><p>Sykkuno looked rattled. “Uh, what?”</p><p>“Back to the car, we’re going.”</p><p>“Going where?!”</p><p>“Just shut up and move.” Toast pushed him ahead of him and put his phone to his ear. “Hi Rae?”</p><p>“You’re calling Rae?”</p><p>“I said shut up, Sykkuno. Rae, we will be there to pick you up in like twenty minutes. Me and Sykkuno. Yes, now. Yes. Now. Twenty minutes. I’ll explain on the way. Huh? Come in your pajamas then, I don’t care!” He hung up and pushed Sykkuno along faster. “You kids just need to listen to me. Old Toastie’s gonna save the day.”</p><p> </p><p>It was well into the night when they arrived at the beach. The parking lot was completely empty and once they stepped outside the circle of light from the solitary lamppost the world was devoid of any signs of human civilization. Silver-edged clouds chased each other across the sky overhead. Together the three of them followed the sound of the waves and the smell of salt on the breeze through the darkness until the ocean, shifting and shining under the stars came into view.</p><p>Rae put her hands on her hips. “Now what?”</p><p>Toast frowned at the seashell in his hand. “She just said if I had it I’d be able to find her.”</p><p>“What’s that supposed to mean?” Rae cast a skeptical look down at it.</p><p>“I don’t know. Ask Sykkuno, he’s the almost-spirit here,” Toast joked.</p><p>“I’m not,” Sykkuno said, more sharply than he intended and he immediately regretted it. Toast and Rae looked at him with a sort of curious alarm and he shook his head. “I’m, I’m not. It’s not like that. I don’t…” He looked out at the ocean just as the moon emerged from behind some clouds, not quite full but almost, partway between the gibbous and full phases. He caught sight of a white lily catching the light and headed down onto the beach. “This way.”</p><p>“Long time no see,” Lily greeted them with a smile. “Sit, have some hot chocolate.” There was a thermos and three camping-style mugs set in the sand next to her. She indicated the moon before them with her own mug and said, “He’s happy to see you.”</p><p>Sykkuno felt a lump in his throat. “Can, can you…?”</p><p>“No, but I can tell. I told you, the ocean and the moon have a close relationship.”</p><p>“Yeah, you did,” Sykkuno held up two fingers and crossed them. “Like this, you said.” He sipped the thick, sweet hot chocolate and thought a moment. Fearing he already knew the answer, he asked, “Could you… help him come back… down, down here...?”</p><p>“Not yet.”</p><p>Oh. He’d been expecting a flat ‘no’ if he was honest. ‘Yet’ almost made it harder in a way. The uncomfortable feeling born from Dream's words made itself known in the pit of his stomach. “If… I... tried… could I…?” The question felt unnatural. He regretted asking the moment it was out in the air. Next to him, Toast and Rae both took in a sharp breath and waited with him to hear the answer.</p><p>It was, again, the words, “not yet.” Lily pulled her knees up to her chest and rested her head on them, studying Sykkuno’s face intently with clever, knowing eyes. “Does that scare you?”</p><p>“A little, yeah… a lot, actually...” He told Lily, Toast, and Rae about his conversation with Dream, including the whispered proposition in his ear. "That's, that's crazy, though, right? I can’t- I can’t make this, this bit of the moon <i>mine</i>, I..." </p><p>“But Sykkuno, you don’t realize that it was your idea.”</p><p>“Huh?” Sykkuno nearly dropped his mug. “I-I didn’t! I never-! I don’t want to, to…!” He looked wildly back towards Rae and Toast, who were watching with guarded interest. They weren’t exactly jumping in to back him up either. Sykkuno’s head whipped back around to look pleadingly at Lily. “I mean, that's- I’m, I’m nothing special, so, I mean...”</p><p>Lily graced him with a look full of gentle skepticism.</p><p>“I-I’m really not…” Sykkuno said again weakly. He looked to Toast and Rae again, but they were closed-lipped. Toast tilted his head to the side, while Rae shook hers side to side. “But I- I, I just don’t believe it. I can’t believe it. I don’t…” his voice died down, almost to a whisper, “I don’t want it. I don’t, I just… want to have fun with my friends, and play with my dog, and… and… and be with...” Sykkuno looked out across the water at the moon. “What do you mean, it was my idea?”</p><p>“You probably don’t even remember,” Lily began to pour them all fresh hot chocolate, “but you must have said something, sometime, and you really meant it. I mean, this is a rare circumstance, but normally in this situation, what we would expect is the bit of the moon would just be there, in your eye, dormant, until you died and it went back to Corpse.”</p><p>“Because it’s not mine.”</p><p>“Because you don’t want to make it yours.” Lily handed Rae, then Toast, and finally Sykkuno their replenished hot chocolates. Once Sykkuno had taken his from her, she moved her hand up to his face with a smile. “Even though I see it clearly in both of your eyes now.”</p><p>Sykkuno thought of his reflection in the mirror Dream showed him and nearly panicked, clutching the mug with both hands and putting his head between his knees. He couldn’t think… he’d never seen himself that way before, so he had no frame of reference. The bit of the moon was only supposed to be in his left eye. How could she see it in both eyes? It had been in both of his eyes, he had seen it too. How? Why? Was he making it more difficult to give it back? What… What suggestion could he have made that Lily implied was causing this?</p><p>“I don’t understand…” he said quietly. The words came out thin and strained. It was hard to breathe.</p><p>“Could it have been those three days you had a fever?” Toast surmised.</p><p>“Yeah, a lot keeps coming back to that,” Rae added.</p><p>Sykkuno lifted his head, shaking it side to side. “That was brought on by me stupidly trying to give it back directly.” He took a shaky breath. “And, and besides, I came back from that didn’t I?” He put the warm mug of hot chocolate to his forehead and closed his eyes. He recalled that evening he woke up. Had he said anything? “I don’t… I don’t like to think about it too much, if I’m honest. I hate how worried it made you guys, and how awful it made Corpse feel. He thought it was his fault when it was all me. It was my fault.”</p><p>“Sykkuno, I don’t think it was anyone’s fault exactly…” Rae gently tried to assure him. Toast made a sound of agreement.</p><p>“It was, though,” Sykkuno’s voice cracked faintly, “I mean, that was also when I asked Corpse to stay again, and, well… look what happened...” He rocked his head against the mug side to side. “I just wanted us to, to be together, even…” Sykkuno stopped abruptly.</p><p>Lily’s smile spread wider.</p><p>“What is it?” Rae and Toast asked.</p><p>Sykkuno shivered. “I said I would become moonlight…”</p><p>“Huh?” “What?”</p><p>“I said I wanted us to be together even if it meant I would become moonlight too…” Sykkuno listened to Rae declare that sweet even though she sounded exasperated and ducked his head. “I don’t even know why I said that, I…”</p><p>“But you meant it,” Lily told him, eyes glittering in the night.</p><p>“I did, but…” he let out a breathless little laugh of disbelief and repeated, “I didn’t even know what I was saying.”</p><p>“Do you still mean it?”</p><p>“How can- what does that even mean? I...” He smiled faintly despite himself, realizing with a warm bubble of emotion deep within his heart that the sentiment was still there. “Um... yeah, I think I do…”</p><p>“Sykkuno’s not going to start disappearing now too, is he?” Toast asked.</p><p>Lily shook her head. “Unlike with me or Corpse and the others, what you see is still Sykkuno’s true form. This is new,” she bumped shoulders fondly with Sykkuno, “this is special, and I think probably Sykkuno will still have to figure things out as he goes. But he won’t be alone, right?”</p><p>“We already knew he had his head in the clouds anyway,” Rae declared by way of agreement. </p><p>Toast nodded and clapped Sykkuno on the shoulder. “We’ve got your back.”</p><p>Sykkuno felt lightheaded. He had no idea what to make of this, or what exactly all this entailed. Figure things out as he goes? First he had to figure out where he was even going. He appreciated Rae and Toast’s support, but... “Wh-What about Corpse?”</p><p>“Oh, right, I forgot about that guy,” Lily declared, sitting a little straighter. “I can’t help you yet, but… let’s see…” She put a finger to her mouth in thought. “When’s the next blue moon?”</p><p>“What’s a…?” Toast started to ask.</p><p>Rae took out her phone. “Let me look it up.”</p><p>“Next year,” Sykkuno answered. “I think July or August, can’t remember.”</p><p>Rae leaned over to ruffle his hair. “You would know that off the top of your head.”</p><p>“I, I was just curious! The full moon is, is the best time to, to…!”</p><p>“Oh that’s right, the full moon is <i>date night</i>,” Toast teased him.</p><p>In the moment, and especially when thinking back on it later, Sykkuno greatly appreciated having Toast and Rae there to provide some grounding normalcy to it all.</p><p>“Next year, huh?” Lily nodded. “That should be plenty of time.” For what, she didn’t go into detail, but Sykkuno wasn’t sure he’d understand anyway. (Wait, did all this mean someday he <i>would</i> understand?) What mattered was that she could help. “We’ll see how it goes, he might only be able to come down during the full moon for a while at first, and only here where it’s close to the water.”</p><p>Sykkuno went very still. Another whole year seemed like a very long time, but he’d promised, and he would wait.</p><p>Lily turned and held out both hands. Sykkuno took them, and she gave them a firm but gentle shake. “A year will be over before you know it, Sykkuno. And my advice is for you to use this time to really think about everything and what you want to do. You can come back and talk to me anytime you need to.”</p><p>Sykkuno looked from Lily to the moon, hanging bright and comforting in the sky.</p><p>“I will,” he promised.</p><p> </p><p>***</p><p>**</p><p>*</p><p> </p><p>The moon was only just rising, low in the sky and looking larger than life. It illuminated the waves and the beach below in ethereal silver-blue light. Sykkuno slipped off his shoes and stood for a moment, feeling the sand smooth and slightly cool under his feet. There was only one other person he could see, and despite how long it had been, there was no mistaking who it was.</p><p>Lily stepped up beside him. The moonlight and the ocean breeze played off the flower in her hair as she met his nervous glance with a smile. She put a hand on his back to urge him forward. “Go on.”</p><p>Sykkuno walked the rest of the way to the other figure sitting on the sand, his heart swelling with each step. When he finally reached him, he looked just the way he remembered, wild curls twisting in the ocean breeze, heavy rings on the fingers of his broad hands, and an eyepatch over his right eye. But the rest of his face was uncovered, and the longer Sykkuno looked at him, the more the corners of his lips twitched like he was holding back. He was waiting.</p><p>He was following Sykkuno’s lead.</p><p>Sykkuno sat and put a hand to his chin. “That’s strange, I thought I was supposed to be the one waiting for you.”</p><p>A dreamy smile spread across Corpse’s face and he reached for him, gathering him into his lap to wrap his arms around him. “Can’t I be the one to surprise you for once?”</p><p>Sykkuno melted into his touch. “Missed you so much…”</p><p>“Me too, baby, me too.”</p><p>Corpse kissed him, deeply and with such momentum that they tumbled over in the sand. Sykkuno squawked in surprise and then giggled against his lips. Corpse pressed his face into the side of Sykkuno’s neck and they stayed like that for a while, weaving finger patterns and listening to the waves in comfortable silence.</p><p>“Sykkuno…?”</p><p>“Hm?”</p><p>Sykkuno’s fingers brushed over his curls and Corpse leaned further into him. He opened his visible eye slowly and laid a hand over Sykkuno’s heart. “Will you really join me in the moonlight? Is that what you want?” he asked.</p><p>Sykkuno gazed up at the night sky above them. He’d had a lot of time to think it over, and while it still seemed an overwhelming decision, he often dreamed of that time he'd been so close to the Milky Way and the stars he could almost touch them, and the hand that had reached for him among it all. “It is…” He shifted position so he was laying on his side, where he could look at Corpse directly. He folded his fingers over the hand Corpse had put on his heart and brought it up to his lips. “I want to be with you, Corpse… here, now, and in the moonlight, maybe not right away but someday… if you want to be with me.”</p><p>Corpse leaned forward, his voice dropping between the two of them to softly answer Sykkuno with a simple, “I do.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Thank you so much for reading to the end of Season Two of my little hypothetical anime. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I had fun writing it.<br/>I don't know for sure if there will be a Season Three or not (or indeed, if anyone wants one). I have nothing planned other than a possible title, but trilogies are neat and I left Dream's true intentions open-ended just in case.<br/>Once again, thank you so much for reading.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
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